Another Fate
by ShirayurihaShaku
Summary: It's been ten years since his father died in the Holy Grail War, and Rin Tohsaka intends to finish what his father started by winning the Holy Grail. But it seems that fate has different plans for him, from the unexpected alliance with the strange girl, Emiya Mashirou, to his unruly Servant... (Gender Flip. Male!Rin Fem!Shirou) (Image credit to Google Images)
1. Gentle Everyday

_**Gentle Everyday  
**_

It was beginning.

The Holy Grail War. Seven Servants, legendary souls of heroes of old summoned under seven "Masters" chosen by the Grail, fight for supremacy. All for one wish.

…Perhaps, it would be an overstatement to call something between seven people a war.

However, those seven masters were usually Magi. Shrewd, callous and valuing results over everything, even human lives, these were people who wielded the power of "Magecraft" or "Thaumaturgy", the art of recreating mysteries.

But during this "war" they wielded something which surpassed common magecraft. "Servants", the souls of past heroes incarnated as familiars through the power of the Holy Grail. They surpassed any modern weaponry, themselves being equivalent to modern armies… No, perhaps they surpassed even them them.

So, in essence, it was indeed a war. Like real war a callous, cruel and calculating leadership commanded death and destruction for either selfish reasons or a delusion of righteousness. The moniker was well earned.

Wondering what this "war" has to do with the "Honor Student", Rin Tohsaka?

It was something he wished with all his heart that he wasn't involved in. Contrary to his rather cold personality, he really did care about others.

It was an… obligation (perhaps "curse" would be a better word) inherited along with the name "Tohsaka".

His fate was sealed at the moment of his birth as the first-born child of the Tohsaka family. It was his destiny to be a Master in the war from the beginning.

" _Rin, the Holy Grail will appear eventually. It is our duty as the Tohsaka family to win it."_ He was told almost ten years ago.

He would have to take part in the Holy Grail War as the representative of the Tohsaka family and be victorious.

Yes, he thought of victory as an obligation as well; his natural competitiveness wouldn't allow himself to participate in the war half-heartedly.

It was only two days before the Holy Grail War officially began and only two classes were yet to be summoned, one of which was Saber.

Now was the time to act. He was sure of his abilities as a master, and with a Saber class Servant, victory would be all but assured.

* * *

The early morning sunlight flitted through the windows of Tohsaka Rin's bedroom. It was quite the handsome room, the cream colored curtains glowed ethereally in the sunlight as it illuminated a small rectangular table complete with a matching pair of chairs with scarlet cushions. They were in front of single bed with cream hangings which matched the curtains. Another window was right beside the bed, and a dressing table and mirror was just beside it. The whole room had a prim and proper aura not unlike its owner.

The silence of the morning was only occasionally punctured by the soft chirping of birds who nested in the forest near the mansion.

The large lump beneath the comforter on the bed scarcely stirred, indicating that the owner of the bed was still fast asleep. But a sudden sound of ringing pierced the silence, and Rin began stirring. A low groan signaled his awakening, and he brought out only his hand to fumble at the bedside cabinet to locate the alarm clock.

After a minute of futile attempts to locate the the noisy machine, he finally became awake enough to realize that he had placed the alarm clock on the table in front of the bed.

It was a rather simple-minded attempt to make sure he didn't just turn off the alarm and go back to sleep, but it seemed to be working as he threw off the blanket and swung his legs off the bed to sit up. He yawned and looked towards the table to see if it actually was there. But the soft sunlight was just bright enough to dazzle his unadjusted eyes. He squinted his handsome aqua eyes, and there the stupid little contraption was, still ringing in a tone so obnoxiously loud and high-pitched that he was sure his neighbors would come complaining if he had any.

"I. Hate. You." He spat at the impish machine, with every drop of spite a person could possibly muster against a machine. But, as machines aren't really affected by spite, especially that of the humans dependent on them, it kept ringing as though to say sarcastically, "I love you too; now please get your lazy backside off the bed and get ready. You're going to be late."

Finally getting out of his bed, he picked up the clock and turned the alarm off, fighting the usual urge to fling it out of the window. "If you didn't make sure I was never late for school, I would've used you for Gandr target practice a long time ago." He hissed at the now quiet alarm clock which, naturally, didn't respond.

His body felt sluggish that day, he thought as he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He wasn't really a morning person, but never had he felt so unwilling to wake up.

"Well, I _was_ up late deciphering Father's will…" He reminded himself as he stifled a yawn. He slightly shivered as he passed through the cold hallway to enter the equally cold living room.

His breaths came out as puffs of semitransparent white. Fuyuki had long winters, yet they're scarcely cold. In fact, late winter here was about as warm as early spring elsewhere. Yet today seemed to be particularly cold. The cold only compounded his sleepiness and sluggishness and Rin almost thought that nature was conspiring to send him back to his bed by tormenting him.

He looked for the heater and turned it on before heading to the bathroom. He almost wished that there were someone else in the house; the living room would've been warm by now.

"Unless the person I was living with was lazy…" He joked to himself, but he ended up feeling annoyed rather than amused. He almost felt like he was consoling himself about his lonely life in the Tohsaka mansion. He was too proud to indulge in self-pity, consciously or unconsciously.

He entered the bathroom and splashed his face with cool water and looked at his reflection in the mirror. His reflection stared back him, wet bangs of his short black hair framing his face and water slowly dripping from his face. He ran a wet hand through his hair to make them settle from their misshapen state. He briefly amused himself with the thought of going to school with his usual bed hair as he combed his hair. Would it shatter his image as a model pupil? Or would his classmates naively think that it was some exotic hairstyle which was in vogue elsewhere? He certainly wished it was the latter.

He frowned towards his reflection and ran a hand down his bare torso. It was lean enough to give him excellent mobility yet muscular enough to allow some strength behind his physical blows…

However, he would have to hide this fact. He was known only for his academics, and most of the school didn't know of him participating in any kind of sport. So it would be suspicious.

…And most of the sports clubs would certainly pester him to join like they had in middle school. Perhaps that was the last straw, so he swallowed his not-so-little pride and purposefully underachieved in P.E from his third year onward. One should note that the word "underachieved" for Rin Tohsaka was "not at the top".

He quickly made himself some toast for breakfast and got dressed and grabbed his bag. As he was leaving, he saw that it was barely ten past seven.

"Hmph, I guess I was in a hurry for nothing." He said, rather disappointed. (Which is another way to say "I wanted to sleep a bit more, damn it!")

But he was glad he wouldn't need to run. After all, the Tohsaka motto was "Always Elegant."

…He was also quite glad "Elegant" and "Dandy" didn't intersect these days. He could scarcely stand his father's sense of fashion.

He suppressed a cringe as he imagined himself in one of his father's scarlet suits while stinking of musk. Honestly…

He paused for a bit and contemplated bringing his father's jewel necklace with him for safety. However, he brushed the desire away. It wasn't in danger of being stolen in his house, and it would be a bother keeping it out of sight.

But, as a precaution, he brought some of his jewels with him. They were all filled with magical energy he had been accumulating in them for years.

He locked the house and activated the bounded field protecting it before leaving in a brisk jog. He really didn't need to but still hurried on, just to be on the safe side. Once he came to the intersection with the Japanese-style houses, he slowed down to a walk.

A sense of uneasiness filled him when he found the area empty.

"Why is it so quiet today?" He thought as he looked around. Not one person was in sight. Usually there are some people leaving for work and school.

He put one hand in his pocket and gripped a jewel he kept for safety. Some others were hidden away in his shirt, but he doubted that he would actually need (read: use) them.

Soon he was at the school gates, and the sense of unease became bigger than before. Where was everyone?

But when he saw that the clubs were just starting practice, he realized…

…His father had done something to make all the clocks in the house run an hour faster.

"Oh, Tohsaka? You're up early today."

"…Yep, he did."

"What was that?" the person addressing him, a cheery girl with auburn hair and brown eyes asked. She must've heard him mutter to himself.

"Nothing in particular. Good morning, Mitsuzuri-san." He greeted his classmate from class 2-A, Mitsuzuri Ayako curtly.

"You're as cold as always." Mitsuzuri commented rather playfully.

Rin mustered a half smile, "I resent that. One would think I was trying to drive you away." Which, in reality, he was. As a Magus, it would be bad to be involved with normal people too much. Not that he disliked Mitsuzuri, it was refreshing to have a female he could socialize with normally, seeing as every other girl was either interested in him or already rejected by him (thus making him an insufferable self-important snob in their eyes).

"Oh really? I never knew keeping classmates at arms length was a way to keep friends." She replied frankly.

Rin couldn't help but chuckle a bit, but regained his composure, "I have to keep up appearances, don't I?" he said rather snidely.

"That you do. 'Tohsaka Rin, Insufferable Frigid Genius' extraordinaire, or something like that." Mitsuzuri said with a grin.

Rin rolled his eyes halfheartedly at the remark, but didn't contradict her.

"Ah, sorry for the sudden question, but might I ask what time it is?" Rin asked her, just to be sure.

Mistuzuri looked at him curiously, "It's almost seven. Still half-asleep?" she shook her hand in front of him as though to make sure he was alright.

She was one of the few frien- acquaintances who knew that he wasn't a morning person. He sighed to himself and replied. "It's nothing, just me rambling. Anyway, morning practice as usual?"

Mitsuzuri told said yes and told him about some of the problems the Archery Club was facing.

"I see, always something to worry about as the captain, no?"

"Yeah... I wish other people understood as well. I mean, you're an outsider and you're still saying that; it's not that hard to figure out. Oh, how about coming, seeing as there's still some time until class starts. I bet the girls would love it."

"I think I'd be more of a hindrance than help, if that's the case…" He replied matter-of-factly.

"Most likely." She replied, cracking a smile.

"…Okay, then. But I'll only watch." He decided to go. He had some acquaintances in the Archery Club he'd like to meet, so it'd be like killing two birds with one stone.

"Great! But, are you sure you don't want to join the club?"

"You know I'm not much of an athlete." He told her as they walked towards the dojo-like building.

"But you always do well in P.E. I bet you'd catch on in no time. Besides," she smiled cheekily, "you could do with some muscle anyways. Archery is great for building the upper body."

"I guess I'll consider it." He replied.

"Really?" Mitsuzuri exclaimed, shocked.

"Nope." Rin smirked as Mitsuzuri punched his arm with a "Hmph!"

"Sorry, but I have other obligations." Rin said, genuinely apologetic.

Mitsuzuri sighed, "Well… I guess it can't be helped."

They arrived in front of the impressive archery range. It was rather fancier than one would expect of a mere school archery range. Perhaps the director was interested in archery.

"Come on, there's still time for practice. Let's have some tea inside." She said happily as she dragged Rin inside by hand.

He had to admit, it was almost like having a girl and guy for a friend at the same time. Although the male aspect of Mitsuzuri was rather strong when expressing her true feelings.

They have tea inside the handsome archery range. The range was empty apart from them, and judging by the expression on Mitsuzuri's face, Rin realized that she wanted to ask something he'd rather not answer.

"No comment, no comment and no comment." Rin said preemptively.

"Whaaaa? Why?" Mitsuzuri demanded.

"I've told you about a thousand times already, I'm not interested in having a relationship with anyone." Rin said tiredly.

"Why, are you impotent or something?" Mitsuzuri said rather bluntly.

"There is such a thing called "Aesexuality", ya know." Rin replied rather tersely.

"I know there is, but you're not asexual." Mitsuzuri said.

"And you know… how, exactly?" Rin demanded.

"Because you sometimes stare at the girls during P.E." Mitsuzuri said simply.

"I do not!" Rin replied, trying to sound outraged rather than flustered.

"Liar." Mitsuzuri said, grinning, "I saw you staring at Makidera while she was doing stretches. She has quite the bust, doesn-"

"Okay, I'm not totally uninterested in girls, so shut up!" Rin said quickly, ashamed at being cornered.

"Ha!" Mitsuzuri said victoriously, "Now tell me the real reason for not wanting a relationship."

"…Obli-"

"If you don't want to explain these "obligations", don't use them as an excuse." Mitsuzuri told him.

"W-well, I… er, um… What's the word? Hehheh…" Rin fidgeted, but saw the determined expression on Mitsuzuri's face and decided to relent… And make up a better lie.

"I... I already have someone I like." He blurted out, and Mitsuzuri looked at him, wide-eyed.

"I should've known." Mitsuzuri said. "So, I guess you're interested in Makidera, right? I guess it's natural you're nervous about confessing. Don't worry, Makidera only acts like she can't stand you-"

This was going south fast. "It's not Makidera!" Rin said rather too loudly.

"Damndamndamndamndamn!" He cursed in his mind, ashamed at letting things escalate so far. Usually he'd just brush her off, but today she cornered him with the staring at Makidera thing which was totally unintentional on his part he was just briefly taken in by those stupid pitfalls of youth and he was half-asleep and THIS IS TOTALLY THAT ALARM CLOCK AND FATHER'S FAUL-

"Mitsuzuri, it's you I like." He said, and with as much passion he could muster grabbed both her hands in his while looking in her eyes. "Why do you think you're about the only girl I communicate with? It was love at first sight! You're the only one for me!" He said, almost gagging on the cheesy words he was regurgitating from that shoujou manga he'd read out of boredom once.

Mitsuzuri looked back, dumb struck. Almost a minute of silence followed, and Rin was half-expecting Mitsuzuri to snort disbelievingly or burst into hysteric laughter. But…

"W-what the heck are you saying!?" She demanded as her face turned a shade of red that would make a tomato farmer proud, surprising Rin. "T-t-t-this is t-too sudden! Well, I-I-I…"

She seemed to me stuck on the "I" part and Rin decided it was the right time for a tactical retreat. So he let go of her hands, sprang up on his feet and scurried away.

"Man… that was surprising…" He sighed as he closed the door of the archery range behind him, "I'd never have thought that Mitsuzuri would react like that. I guess I'll clear up everything during break. There goes my only non-male friendship." He mused to himself as he put on his shoes.

"Ah…" He looked up at the soft voice to see Sakura Matou standing before him. "Good Morning, Matou-chan." He said, trying not to betray any emotion.

She looked back sadly at him with her purple eyes and replied, "Good Morning, senpai. Were you planning on watching us practice?"

"Yes. But I ran into a problem with Mitsuzuri-san, so I'll pass for today." Rin replied.

"I hope it's nothing serious." She replied, looking anywhere but towards his direction.

"No, it'll be sorted out in no time. Well, have a good day." Rin said as he started to leave.

"Um, Senpai?" Sakura asked just as he was five feet away.

Rin looked back to see a slight smile on her face. "Thank you for coming."

He didn't reply and turned around, only to see someone he would've preferred never existed.

"Oh ho, Tohsaka-kun." The slime ball that was Shinji Matou greeted him.

"Good Morning, Matou- _kun._ You're certainly early today." He said, putting a delicate stress on the honorific, but otherwise being impassive, as though he didn't even know him.

"What are you saying? I'm always one of the first to come. I'm the ace and Captain of the Archery Club, after all." He bragged, and Rin couldn't help but mentally snort.

"Is that so? Mitsuzuri-san was just telling me how you seem to be skipping practice a lot and the last I saw you, you failed to hit anywhere close to the bull's eye many times." Rin stated as disinterestedly as possible, and was satisfied to see his smirk disappear. "And I believe that's "Vice-Captain". I hope you can distinguish between a true leader and a figurehead, seeing as how you're a "honor student" and all that."

"W-well, I was in a slump that day! I certainly was better than the other commoners there!" He said nastily, disregarding the second part completely.

"Ah, indeed." Rin replied. "Matou- _kun_ I realize now why your performance was so bad. You seem to be developing severe Myopia. You should really see a doctor about that." He said coolly, and was satisfied to see the male Matou become a furious shade of scarlet.

"What are you implying?" He said menacingly as he stalked close to him, his face almost an inch away from Rin's.

"I'm implying that you're becoming cripplingly shortsighted, especially now that you seem to need to be an inch away from me to see me properly. To add to that, I'd advise you to see a doctor about your putrid breath, you might be developing halitosis as well." Rin replied unfazed and refused to look away from him.

"Why you…!" Shinji made to grab the front of his uniform, but was stopped by a voice saying, "Nii-san!"

He retracted his hand and furiously looked behind at his sister. "This has nothing to do with you, Sakura. Go inside the archery range."

"But… Um, Captain was calling you. She wanted to discuss plans for this April so we can attract more freshmen." Sakura said softly.

"Oh, of course." Shinji said, his smug expression returning. "There's no way that she could decide on something so important without _my_ input. I'm sorry Tohsaka-kun, I'll have to get back to you about out little "disagreement" a little later."

"I can't decide whether your delusion of grandeur is pathological or a self-defense mechanism against your cripplingly low self-esteem." Rin whispered quietly so that Shinji wouldn't hear.

"Senpai…" He heard Sakura call as Shinji noisily entered the archery range, "Please don't provoke Nii-san again."

Rin left without glancing back. He might take the advice, but he doubted he could resist the urge to knock Shinji down a notch every time he would try to look bigger than he really was. He had a misguided sense of self-importance that drove him to regard Rin as his rival; he was anything but.

He made his way towards the classroom, only to encounter Fujimura-sensei on the way.

"Oh, Tohsaka-san, good morning." She greeted kindly.

Rin bowed curtly and replied, "Good Morning, Fujimura-sensei."

"Ah, I'm so happy that you greet me properly." She replied almost crying from happiness.

"I didn't think it possible to greet a teacher improperly." He lied, trying to keep as neutral a face as possible before his eccentric English teacher.

"Of course it is possible… I'll skip the explanation, I wouldn't want you to respect me any less." She said, almost floating in the air, and Rin made a mental note to himself; never greet Fujimura-sensei in an overly respectful way... Unless you need something done.

Fujimura Taiga floated away while waving at him airily.

Rin tried to push this encounter out of his head and left as well, only to run into another person he would rather not meet early in the morning. Today was really not his day.

"Gah, Tohsaka!" A bespectacled boy with blue hair greeted him rather rudely.

"Good Morning, Ryudou-san." He said, bowing with a sarcastic kind of respect.

"What are you up to? You're not in any clubs." He asked, looking at Rin suspiciously.

"Hmm… I admire your dedication, Seto Kaichou-san, but please don't get carried away." Rin replied without emotion, "You're possibly indirectly accusing me of a number of unsavory acts without any basis or proof. Can a person of your standing afford to do such a thing? It reeks of "abuse of authority"."

"Don't think you can confuse me with your treacherous words, you sly fox! I'm not as gullible as the Treasurer." Issei Ryudou, the Student Council President told him, his face showing a healthy bit of contempt mixed with mistrust. Rin didn't know exactly why Ryudou disliked him. It was perhaps "Hate at First Sight", seeing as he hadn't done anything to offend him. On the other hand, Ryudou had a certain sixth-sense for dishonesty, maybe he sensed that his image at school was a farce.

"I was simply stating the obvious. I apologize if it came across as deception." He said, with another sarcastic bow. "Also, what I did was a necessary evil. You show favoritism towards the non-sporting clubs when it comes to funds, so I did something about it on Mitsuzuri-san's request."

"W-well, if you really had that much of a problem with it, there are certain procedu-" Ryudou started rather defensively only to cut off by Rin.

"I am well aware of that. However, to put it frankly, I have little patience for bureaucratic labyrinths." He told him, "I would also like to point out that, while I might have used subtle… "manipulations", as you'd phrase them, for achieving that end, it is not against regulations. In fact, even with the way you're presenting the situation, it would be no more than me giving my opinions and advice about how school funds should be spent based on unadulterated facts. I neither lied to nor blackmailed him. As a student of this fine establishment, I am quite entitled to voicing my opinions."

Ryudou was about to retort but was interrupted again by someone calling him from inside the room he exited from, "Issei-kun, the heater's fixed."

It was a sweet voice, filled with a childish kind of innocence. A read-headed second-year girl came out of the room to see them. She was wearing the Homurahara High's girl's uniform and was carrying a toolbox on one hand. The girl's name was Emiya Mashirou.

"Oh, Emiya-chan, thank you for your assistance." He said gratefully, looking at the rather short girl.

"It was nothing, really." She replied with a sweet smile, "There wasn't anything seriously wrong with the heater anyway." Emiya looked towards Rin and gave the impression that she wanted to say something.

Rin nodded to her in acknowledgement and turned to Ryudou, "Taking advantage of Emiya-san's kindness again, I see."

"Excuse me?" Ryudou said, rather outraged, "Your phrasing makes it sound like I pressured her into this."

"I'm doing this by my own choice." Emiya told Rin.

There wasn't any notable change in his expression as he asked, "Ah, so Seto Kaichou-san didn't ask you; you came to him yourself after hearing about the broken heater?"

"W-well…" Ryudou stuttered, but Emiya, seemingly oblivious to Ryudou's plight, replied, "No, Issei-kun asked me for help."

"I rest my case." Rin said, secretly feeling satisfied at Ryudou's shamed expression, "I just hope you'll have a female accompany you in future. You never know…" He trailed off, not quite finishing the sentence.

"Are you implying that I can't be trusted?!" Ryudou demanded, outraged. However, his scarlet face made it clear that he did hold rather problematic feelings for Emiya.

"Not at all. I was just saying that it had rather unfortunate implications; you randomly making Emiya-san stay late or come early…" Rin said lightly, "This is a High School, after all. Rumors are already surfacing about you two."

"That doesn't matter." Emiya insisted, "Issei-kun's a good friend, he'd never do anything wrong to me." Ryudou looked at Emiya gratefully.

"Besides, Issei-kun's more like my older brother, and I know he sees me as his younger sister. Ne?" She looked at Ryudou with those sincere and innocent eyes.

Rin didn't know what was more priceless; Emiya's obliviousness or the look on Ryudou's face. Ryudou looked like a defeated soldier returning from a war, his shoulders slumped and head down.

"Yes, of course…" He said in a dead-sounding voice which made Rin feel almost sorry for him.

The keyword here being "almost".

"Ah, how precious." He said, trying his hardest not to laugh, "Emiya-san, why don't you privately address him as your brother from now on?"

"Not a bad idea." The red-head replied with over-bright eyes. "Yoroshku ne, Issei-nii!"

"Hissatsu~" Rin chirped in his head before mentally smacking himself for it as he looked at the zombie that was Issei Ryudou. Rin really needed to stop reading shounen manga…

"Haa…" Was the only reply she got.

"Hey, didn't you say the VCR in the multimedia room needed a look too? Let's go, Issei-nii, class is gonna start soon!" Emiya chirped as she pulled Ryudou by the arm. But Ryudou didn't move.

"Emiya-chan, you go ahead…" He said, "I'll be there in a bit."

"Oh, okay! Just hand me the keys, then."

Ryudou handed her the keys stiffly and Emiya scurried away, and Rin was rather surprised at the ease with which a girl of her stature carried the toolbox. "Later, Tohsaka!" She said, briefly standing and looking back with a smile.

" _What was that?"_ Rin asked himself, trying not to feel too pleased.

"You're surprisingly worldly for a son of a Buddhist Monk." Rin said to Ryudou when Emiya was out of earshot. Ryudou didn't reply, just stood there like a statue. Rin decided that his work here was done and left.

As he passed Ryudou, he put a hand on his shoulder consolingly, "Ganbatte, Seto Kaichou-san."

He was leaving when Rin heard Ryudou say, "Don't patronize me, you _demon_!"

He went from a sly fox to a demon within one conversation. Not bad, if he did say so himself. He usually didn't indulge in this much schadenfreude, but he thought it was kinder for Ryudou this way. Better disillusioned than clinging to false hope.

He was able to make the rest of the journey to his classroom unhindered, and plopped onto his seat before sighing. He hoped that this was the last bit of bad luck he would have to face today, as he was planning to summon his servant tonight.

But he knew he wouldn't mess such a crucial thing up. He would summon Saber, the strongest servant class, and be victorious.

There was nothing that could possibly go wrong.


	2. The First Step

_**The First Step  
**_

The bell signaled the end of class and beginning of lunch break. Kuzuki-sensei, class 2-A's homeroom teacher and the Ethics teacher curtly dismissed the class and went out of the classroom.

The classroom, which was as quiet as an abandoned graveyard suddenly came alive with chatter as soon as their teacher was out of earshot. Kuzuki-sensi, a perfectionist and someone who commanded the respect of every student he taught, was incredibly strict. So naturally, his classes were the quietest in the whole school. Perhaps in all of Fuyuki, even.

Rin put his books away and looked around the crowd. He spotted Mitsuzuri sitting in her seat, rummaging through her bag. Maybe she brought lunch today. Though he wanted to apologize to her and tell her that the confession was a bald-faced lie, he felt incredibly nervous.

Not that Mitsuzuri was an unreasonable person. It was just that the circumstances were so unique that it was impossible for him to anticipate her reaction, which made the act of facing her all the more daunting.

"Man up, Tohsaka." He told himself and took a deep breath. He exhaled as he sprung to his feet and walked towards Mitsuzuri in a businesslike manner that would make Ryudou proud.

"Mitsuzuri-san?" He said briskly once he was within earshot. Mitsuzuri, who was about to open her bento, looked at him with a start. "T-Tohsaka!"

"I would like a private word with you, if you wouldn't mind." He told her, disregarding the obvious pang of guilt as he looked at her flustered face.

"I apologize if it seems sudden," He continued when Mitsuzuri didn't respond. His hands were crossed beneath his chest, with his left hand over the right and the index finger of his left hand on his right elbow and his back was impeccably straight; the perfect body language to go with his curt tone which said that this "business" which he spoke of wasn't personal. "but it's too important to be postponed."

"h-huh? Okay..." She said and she got up stiffly.

 _"Damn it, Mitsuzuri, act normally!"_ Rin said in his head, but it seemed Mitsuzuri still had enough sense to take a deep breath and compose herself.

"Let's go then, Tohsaka." She said with an oddly-too-natural smile which confused Rin.

"You should bring your lunch with you." Rin said, gesturing towards the bento Mitsuzuri was abandoning on her desk. He relaxed his cold expression into a slight smile as he added, "I'll treat you to something as a thank you."

"That's oddly considerate of you, Tohsaka." He heard an obnoxiously loud voice say.

"It's unfortunate that you think so, Makidera-san." Rin said with a smile which put Makidera off. "I'll be sure to be kinder to everyone in future."

"Okay okay, stop glaring at me already!" Makidera exclaimed, rather unnerved.

"Maki, you're being incredibly rude. Tohsaka-san is only smiling at you." Himuro said in her usual composed voice.

"Yes, he's just trying to be nice." Saegusa told her friend, "He rarely smiles at anyone in class, you know."

"You don't know the whole story, Yukicchi." Makidera replied, "His smiles are actually his worst death glares. He's scariest when he smiles." She said in a voice just loud enough to let the whole class hear, and Rin would've probably become incredibly annoyed if he wasn't used to her antics.

"It's actually even more unfortunate if you think so..." Rin said, reverting to his usual cool demeanor. "Now. if you'd excuse us."

"Um... I'm sorry on behalf of Kaede-chan. I hope you're not offended, Tohsaka-san." Saegusa said, being the kindhearted girl she was. Rin felt a rush of affection for the seemingly plain and unassuming girl, and replied in a relaxed tone, "You don't have to apologize, Saegusa-chan. Makidera-san isn't compared to a hurricane for nothing."

"Damn straight!" Makidera said, puffing up in pride, "These are the fastest legs in Fuyuki!"

"Maki, I don't think that's what Tohsaka-san meant." Himuro said, trying in vain to make her friend less oblivious.

So Mitsuzuri, perhaps still rather perplexed, followed him with her lunch in tow. They made their way through the hallway, scarcely talking. Mitsuzuri followed a few feet behind him, and Rin was torn between curiosity and trepidation about Mitsuzuri's expression.

"Hey, Tohsaka, about what you said this morning..." Mitsuzuri started rather uncharacteristically softly.

"L-let's talk about that when we get to the roof." Rin replied without looking at her.

They made the rest of the journey in silence, and Rin was tempted to close his eyes and make a run for it as they both reached the empty roof.

"Wow, I didn't think that Ryudou would let you have a copy of the keys to the roof." Mitsuzuri said, her voice without any indication of the events which transpired the very same morning.

"He didn't. He'd never even if I threatened him with disembowelment." He replied stiffly, "Fujimura-sensei gave me her copy in exchange for clearing out the old desks blocking the door. "The school never uses the roof anyway, so I don't think there's a problem with you having a copy. Just return it before you graduate." was her reasoning."

"That's Fujimura-sensei for you." And they both chuckled a bit awkwardly, "Well, I think you being a Model Pupil had a large role in her decision as well."

There was a pause in which the atmosphere became oppressively awkward.

 _"Do it, Rin!"_ He told himself and with a deep breath he turned around-

"Mitsuzuri-san!" "Tohsaka!"

They both said at the same time. Mitsuzuri blushed and looked away, and Rin couldn't help but feel like giving her a hug.

"You first." She said, still not looking at him.

Rin went into a low bow, and kept his eyes firmly planted to the ground. "O-oi, Tohsaka what-"

"I'm really sorry. I lied to you this morning. I don't have anyone I like. I just wanted to get out of the situation." Rin said, trying to sound as apologetic as possible.

"Oh..." came a rather underwhelming reply. Rin was shocked into looking up, and saw that Mitsuzuri was looking at him as though nothing was wrong.

"I figured as much." She grinned. "You never really gave off the impression that you liked me."

"I do like you." Rin retorted, and it earned a strange half-chortle half-giggle from Mitsuzuri.

"But not in that way, huh?" She said, phrasing it in a way that made it sound like a rhetorical question.

"Yeah..." Rin replied. He hung his head, "I'm truly sorry. I don't know how seriously you take the whole "high school romance" thing, but it was wrong for me to say something like that. I never meant to toy with your feelings, and I wouldn't think of it as an overreaction if you'd never want to speak to me again."

He bowed again, "I'm really sorry."

"Oi, oi, it was a bit of my fault too." She said as she put a hand on his shoulder to get him to stand up straight. "Well, actually it wasn't but I'm still saying it."

"Gee, thanks a bunch." Rin said sarcastically and Mitsuzuri cracked a smile.

"But don't think that you'll get off with just a sappy apology." She told him mischievously, "There's a new crepe place open in Shinto. I want one of their deluxe crapes as an apology."

"B-but they cost a thousand yen a piece!" Rin said, horrified as color drained from his face.

"Playing with a maiden's feelings is a grievous crime, Tohsaka Rin." Mitsuzuri said cheekily, "You shouldn't expect your atonement to be cheap."

"Fine, fine." He sighed, defeated, "Let's go today and get it over with, I'll be busy after today." Rin added as he reminded himself about the War and Summoning Ritual.

"It's a date, then." Mitsuzuri replied in a mysterious tone.

* * *

"Oh, yum! This is the best crepe I've ever had!" Mitsuzuri exclaimed as she took a bite out of something that was less of a crepe and more of a bouquet of fruits and creme.

"Yeah, yeah..." Rin sighed as they both sat side by side on a bench nearby the stall in the heart of Shinto. He opened a can of black coffee he bought for himself and took a sip out of it.

"Hey, I almost forgot to ask you," Mitsuzuri said in between bites, "Did you say something to Shinji? He was in a foul mood all day. Well, fouler than usual."

"Eh..." Rin said, trying to sound as disinterestedly as possible, "I ran into him today after our little... "rendezvous"."

"I think the word you're looking for is "fiasco"." Mitsuzuri said. Rin snickered as he leaned back into the bench in a relaxed manner.

"Anyway, he was badmouthing everyone in the archery club and being an all-round arrogant toerag. I couldn't pass up a chance to put him in his place."

"You really don't like him, do you?" Mitsuzuri asked.

"Yeah..." he said, sinking down a bit in his seat and looking pensive.

Mitsuzuri, as though saying, "I won't pry" didn't question him any farther but extended the overlarge crepe towards him, "Here, have some. It's too big to finish on my own."

Rin looked at the thousand-yen monstrosity and leaned in to take a bite, but a sudden idea hit him.

He made sure to take a bite from the place where Mitsuzuri was eating from and gave an exaggerated "Mmmmm...!"

"I can't decide if it's the chef I should compliment or you." He whispered to an extremely flustered Mitsuzuri.

"Pervert! Idiot! Lech!" Mitsuzuri cried as made to punch Rin in the arm who just chuckled and defended himself, "Stupid! Water Fountain!"

"Wait, was the last one an insult?" Rin said playfully as he jumped out of the seat.

"Idiot!" Mitsuzuri snapped, still furiously red. Some people were starting to stare, so Rin proposed a tactical withdrawal to which Mitsuzuri reluctantly complied.

* * *

"If you ever do anything like that again..." Mitsuzuri threatened as they came to the intersection where the Japanese-style houses drastically began to decrease between Western-style houses.

"Oi, Mitsuzuri, your house isn't this way." Rin said when Mitsuzuri didn't part ways with him.

The sky was now a brilliant shade of vermilion, and the sun was almost out of sight, so Rin was worried that Mitsuzuri wouldn't make it to her home before it was totally dark.

"I know it isn't." She said simply. "I want to go with you to your house."

"Is that a good idea?" Rin said quizzically.

"Oi, I'm from a family of martial artists." Mitsuzuri said simply, "I could snap any common thug in half if I wanted to."

"That you could." Rin chuckled as he rubbed his arm which he was sure was going to bruise.

"So, what's the hold up? Let's go!" She said and marched forward, holding Rin's hand in her own.

Rin vaguely felt like a girl being escorted home after her first date. Not that it was an unpleasant feeling, but it did feel out of place.

They were just a few blocks away from his house when Mitsuzuri suddenly pointed at two people at a distance, "Hey, isn't that Matou?"

Rin was surprised to see that it _was_ Sakura. She seemed to be speaking to a foreigner, judging from his blonde hair.

Rin frowned. This part of Fuyuki was known to be inhabited by some families of foreigners, but he never actually saw anyone non-Japanese before. It was especially surprising that Sakura of all people would be acquainted with someone like that.

"Looks like she's in trouble." Mitsuzuri said, and Rin was brought out of his reverie to see Sakura looking at the ground with an odd expression on her face. Before he could say anything, Mitsuzuri ran there.

Rin followed, half annoyed at her recklessness and half pleased that she's the one who was intervening.

"Oi, Matou, is this person bothering you?" She called to a startled Sakura as she sprinted in front of her.

"This doesn't concern you, mongrel." The blonde scarlet eyes which shone like rubies said. He exuded an aura of grandeur and magnificence that was quite otherworldly and Rin was both shocked and impressed at the cold confidence on Mitsuzuri's face.

"Mongrel, eh? You sure think highly of yourself." She said to him calmly as Rin joined them at their side.

His eyes lingered on Rin for the smallest of moments before he addressed Mitsuzuri again in his imposing voice, "But of course. Pride is an ornament which suits only me."

"I admire your self confidence, but are you sure you have the thing called "pride"?" Mitsuzuri replied, "A person with "pride" wouldn't really pick on people weaker than them. It's something common schoolyard bullies do. They need to push people down and belittle them to feel superior. Someone who really is superior wouldn't need to do such things, would they?"

For a moment Rin thought that the young blonde was going to explode and try to attack them, but he was surprised to see that he burst into laughter, "Of course, of course, there's no doubt about it! Such magnificent bravado! You've redeemed yourself in my eyes by a small margin, Mongrel. Maybe you'll find a place in my new world... For now, know that you've been pardoned on account of your ignorance." He turned to leave, leaving Mitsuzuri and Rin perplexed and rather disturbed.

"Who was that weirdo?" Mitsuzuri wondered out loud, "Does he have chunnibyou or something?"

Rin shrugged as Sakura gave a soft laugh. "Thank you, Mitsuzuri-senpai, Rin-senpai. But you didn't need to do anything."

"I didn't actually do anything." Rin said frankly, "With Mitsuzuri-san here, I didn't need to."

Mitsuzuri chuckled but straightened up and gave Sakura a serious look, "You'll only encourage him if you take everything lying down. I didn't hear what he said to you, but in future, just ignore him or tell him to fuck off."

Sakura nodded, and Rin said instinctively before he could stop himself, "Should I walk you home?"

Sakura looked at him with an expression between shock and joy. But thankfully, she didn't comply. "I'll be fine. My house isn't that far away."

"Okay, if you insist..." Mitsuzuri said, still looking a bit worried.

Sakura bowed to them and went off in the other direction.

"See you tomorrow!" Mitsuzuri called as she and Rin waved at Sakura.

* * *

"I hope you'll be okay, Mitsuzuri-san." Rin said as he opened the front door to his house.

"It's okay. It's only, what, seven?" She said with a confident grin. "I'll be fine."

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you if you get into any trouble." Rin said.

"Duly noted." She chirped.

Rin turned with a last "Good evening." and pushed the door open, only to feel a small tug on the cuff of his uniform. He stopped at the sensation and it was followed by the feeling of a body pressing against his back.

His face went red as he tried to steady his heartbeats. For a minute which felt like hours they stood there and Mitsuzuri said something into his back which was totally muffled.

But he still understood what she wanted to say. She separated from him with a quick motion and scurried away.

"See you tomorrow, Rin!" She said, as she waved back at him while running.

Rin could only smile sadly back. The lukewarm feeling of Mitsuzuri's body pressing against his back was still present even when she was out of sight, and Rin muttered, "Damn you, Mitsuzuri. Now I'll have to keep away from you."

He felt drained as he plopped onto the large sofa in his living room. He looked at the ceiling as though some interesting show was magically being projected on it.

He promised himself that he wouldn't regret this life. He still remembered that rainy day; the emotions he felt as he held his father's Azoth Sword in his hand. That promise was getting harder and harder to keep.

Today, after a long time, he felt like he was leading some semblance of a "normal life". He didn't mind leading a double life, nor the feeling of isolation, nor the constant lies... Those have become normal for him.

But times like these made him want more than anything to be a sociopath. To tear out the part of his brain which gave him his emotions.

But... today wasn't the day for having an episode of teenage angst. He needed to summon the strongest servant, not just to win, but also to defend the people who were a part of the other half of his life. The cruel and beautiful lie which was the other half of his life.

He hopped up onto his feet as he looked at the large clock on the wall behind the sofa.

He did a double-take. Didn't Mitsuzuri say that it was around seven? But the clock showed...

...Oh, he forgot. Father and his pranks. Maybe he was so repressed during childhood that his inner child acted up when deciding how to test him?

* * *

After painstakingly fixing each and every clock in the house, he made the preparations for the Summoning Ritual in the basement workshop.

He stood between the magic circle passed down through his family and took ten jewels in one hand and the tome describing the procedures in another.

"Anfang." He said, and he extended his fist full of jewels forward, his palm facing downwards.

The jewels became liquid and slowly trickled down the gaps between his fingers. Usually this part was done with blood. but he decided to use liquefied jewels filled with his prana for an extra "oomph".

The liquid slowly traveled to the lines drawn on the floor to form the magic circle and seeped into them.

The circle glowed with a red light.

When the clock struck two he began the incantation for the summoning. He chanted the German aria and concentrated. The image of him falling off a skyscraper to his doom filled his head, and his heart pounded as his body responded to the stimuli by opening all his magic circuits.

His body reacted to the alien that were his Magic Circuits and Family Crest by flooding his senses with incredible pain. He was melting from his fingertips, a current of power was going from his body to the air around him. A whirlwind of mana engulfed him as his body and Family Crest etched on his arm struggled to convert the ambient mana into prana.

And it came, the whirlwind reached a peak and ether solidified before him in a blinding flash of light as the heroic spirit materialized.

As the light subsided, so did the pain engulfing his body, and before him he saw a tan woman in black and scarlet attire with her white hair in a knot behind her head.

She was frowning as she seemed to seize him up with her silver eyes for a moment before announcing,

"I am the Servant Saber." Rin felt an odd urge to squeal like a girl and hop on his toes, but resisted as she continued,

"I ask you..." Rin held his breath, "Do you have a brain in that head of yours?"

"...Huh?"

* * *

A/N:

mile21: Yes, they do. I got the idea for this fic after seeing the protagonists of Fate/Grand Order.

And yes, I will use canon Servants... Just not the way one would expect ;)

Thank you for all the reviews favorites and follows.

Oh, this will probably be the last we see of Mitsuzuri... I'm sorry to anyone who wanted RinxAyako.


	3. Servant of the Sword

_**Servant of the Sword**_

Rin thought that he'd misheard what the scarlet-clad woman said, so straightened up and asked again,

"Excuse me, but… What did you say?"

The woman smirked and crossed her arms beneath her chest, "I asked you if you had the bundle of neurons we call a "Brain" in your cranial cavity."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't realize that I look like a person in a vegetative state." Rin said dryly, "But I assure you that I have a grey matter rich and quite extraordinary brain in my head."

"Is that so?" Saber replied in a voice that made Rin feel as though she was making fun of him.

"So, are you my master?" She asked.

"Do you see anyone else in the room?" Rin asked, his voice still dry as the Sahara Desert.

"That doesn't prove anything." She said, closing her eyes, "We Servants aren't baby ducks who think the first person we see is our master."

"But you materialized in front of me!" Rin said, aghast, "I'm in the magic circle! There isn't anyone else who could possibly be your master!"

The Servant sighed in an exaggerated way which made Rin's temper flare. But he checked his temper, saying to himself, "Remember, Rin. You're a gentleman and nihon-danshi. Respect women. Always Elegant. Always Polite. Strength belies in meekness…" he repeated every such saying he could remember in his head.

"Let me rephrase the question." Saber said, "Are you deserving to be my master? What qualifies you to be my master?"

Rin suddenly understood and a smile came to his face as he showed the unimpressed Servant the back of his hand where the scarlet Command Seals were etched.

"Here! These are the command spells granted to me by the Grail." He said victoriously.

"Oh, you do have the command spells." Saber said in a bored voice, "And you believe it's the qualification to be my master?"

Rin nodded confidently, only to be answered with his Servant putting a hand on her cheek exasperatedly. "I was right to ask you about the state of your brain. It looks like it's obviously rotten if you actually believe what you just said."

Rin gritted his teeth as he told himself in his head, _"Gentleman. Nihon-danshi. Respect. Elegance. Politeness. Meekness…"_

He took a deep breath and replied coldly, "The rules of the War state that there are two criteria of becoming a Master: summoning a Servant and earning his or her allegiance through the command seals. I summoned you, and I have the command seals as a means to bind you to my will. What else is there?"

Saber rolled her eyes at him, and Rin became more and more infuriated, _"Gentleman. Nihon-danshi. Bitch. Elegance. Politeness. Meekness…"_

"Oh, I guess I'll accept you." She said in a voice that suggested that she was doing so out of pity,

" _Gentleman. Nihon-danshi. Bitch. Elegance. Bitch. Meekness…"_

"So, _Master,_ why don't you do yourself a favor and stay here for the rest of the War while I go out and win it for you?"

" _Bitch. Nihon-danshi. Bitch. Bitch. Bitch. Meekness."_

"I doubt you'd be of any help, and I prefer to fight without extra baggage weighing me down."

"… _Bitch."_

"Gandr!" He cried pointing his index finger at the empty wall beside them, still glaring at his Servant.

The room, which was quiet enough for the ticks of the living room clock to be heard, was filled with loud blasts like gunshots.

In a blatant and shameless show of power, he pelted shot after shot of tennis-ball shaped spheres of curses which left craters in the stone wall while his Servant looked at him with a dumbstruck look on her face.

The blasts became quicker and more intense as Rin poured all his frustrations into the innocent wall, and with a last "Bang!" which nearly deafened one of his ears he fired a basketball sized shot right in the middle, making most of the wall come crumbling down.

There was a minute of silence as Rin composed himself and looked at the Servant coolly.

The Servant looked at him with something close to wonder before dissolving into chuckles.

"I seem to have a troublesome Master on my hands." He said, and Rin was almost pleased that the word "Master" wasn't said in a sarcastic drawl anymore.

"Only because my Servant is so twisted." He replied tiredly as he felt a slow throbbing inside his head.

"Well, I had to see whether my Master was up to par." Saber replied with a rather childish kind of sincerity, "I wouldn't want to see my Master die during the war."

" _I guess she's not that bad a person after all."_ Rin thought to himself.

"So, Master, what are we going to-"

"Saber, clean this mess up." He said curtly and left for his bedroom.

Saber stood, too shocked to reply.

"Oi, why do I have to clean this up!? I'm not that kind of Servant!" She yelled after Rin, who was already at the door leading to the living room.

"Because I'm tired and you made me destroy that wall." He said simply, and closed the door behind him leaving a flabbergasted Saber behind him.

But before he could even go five feet, the door behind him opened and he was being lifted off his feet by the back of his neck.

"Tohsaka-san," Saber said in a dangerously honeyed voice, "please handle the cleaning tomorrow morning after getting your much deserved rest, kay?"

"Okay, okay, fine! Just let me down!" Rin said boredly, hanging limply by the collar.

"Good boy." Saber said cheerfully before dropping Rin and dematerializing.

Rin continued up to his bedroom while grumbling under his breath, too tired to argue any farther.

He plopped into the bed without changing into his pajamas and pulled the covers over his head after turning the lights off.

* * *

A/N:

A bit of shameless advertisement: _**Stay tuned for "Fate/Butterfly Effect", another fic of mine in the works. It's placed in an alternate universe where Rin was given away for adoption instead of Sakura.**_


	4. The Grave

_**The Grave**_

"Morning already…?" Rin groaned, his head still pounding as though someone was beating his brain against the inside of his skull. Groggily, he pulled the sheets off his head, and the previously soft light became more intense and made the inside of his eyelids glow a red tinged white.

Even though he wanted to get off the bed, his body was too heavy to allow it. He tried to pull himself up by his arms, but they gave away beneath him and he plopped back into the bed.

"Oh well…" He muttered before briefly going back to sleep.

The summoning ritual yesterday and his little… "tantrum" took a lot out of him. He hadn't realized that he had used up so much of his prana.

"Good morning." A feminine voice cooed sarcastically.

Rin groaned and attempted to retreat back beneath his sheets. He heard an exaggerated sigh.

"Master, it's already eight in the morning." The Servant said, and even though Rin couldn't see her, he was sure that he was being smirked at.

Deciding that his pride was worth more than a few more minutes of sleep, he slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"I hope you were on lookout last night." Rin said with as much grace as possible.

"Yep." Was the curt reply. Rin nodded in response.

Rin leapt off the bed and announced, "We have a busy day ahead of us, so be ready. We'll be scouting Fuyuki today so you can get a good feel of the area."

Rin stretched to loosen his body before addressing his Servant again, "Oh, I forgot yesterday, but I'll have to check your stats as well."

"How lewd of you, Master." The white-haired woman said cheekily, much to Rin's dismay, "You could just _ask_ me about my three sizes… Not that it's any less lewd to ask a woman you've only known for one night about her sizes."

"Spare me your self-flattery." Rin replied drily, "I'm not interested in women my mother's age."

"Excuse me!?" Saber asked, offended.

"Oh, sorry." Rin said in a monotone voice, "I forgot that you're a Heroic Spirit. You must be ancient. Probably even older than my grandmother would be if she was still alive."

There was a brief silence as the air of the room seemingly became ten degrees colder. The Servant wordlessly dematerialized, and Rin started to change into his usual clothes.

He pulled out his favorite black v-neck t-shirt and vermillion cloth jacket and a pair of black pants to go with them.

He went downstairs only to find his tea-set set up beautifully on the table facing the sofa. There was steam coming from the spout of the teapot, and a light flowery scent wafted from there, indicating that some tea was brewed for his benefit.

He sat himself on the sofa, and poured himself a cup of rose-colored tea. The brew was perfect; it had preserved the flowery and slightly grassy aroma of the tea, and the sweet and wooden notes were just strong enough to not overwhelm each other.

He poured himself another cup, and was satisfied that his head felt a lot better after having the tea.

"Saber." He called in his mildest voice.

The Servant materialized beside him, a scowl etched on her face. "What can I help you with, _Master_?"

"Thank you." He said, smiling at the woman, "The brew was excellent!"

"You're… welcome." She said, expression softening.

"I'm surprised. You don't look like someone who'd be interested in things like tea." He said, pouring some tea into a second cup and handing it to the Saber.

"Oh, thanks." She said as she took the cup of tea and sat down on the chair placed directly in front of him. "Well, I did have a life outside of the battlefield." She said lightly, "And sometimes even very simple things like good tea can bring morale up considerably in hopeless situations."

"Hmm… I guess." Rin said, feeling rather relaxed.

"I guess we should get onto fixing that wall." He mused to himself after he had finished his second cup of tea.

"Don't bother," Saber said, "I already did it."

"Thank you… That was oddly gracious of you." Rin replied, feeling a little guilty at having such a low opinion of his Servant at first.

"Don't misunderstand," Saber started and Rin cut him off, ""I did it because it was getting boring waiting for a nonexistent surprise attack.", or something of the like, huh?"

"Well…" Saber paused, looking a bit awkward.

"Saber's a tsundere." Rin joked, only to get a glare in return from Saber, "What!? That was a classic tsundere retort! It's obvious."

"You're the one to talk." Saber replied drily in voice that screamed "shut up or I'll do something unpleasant."

"Okay, okay." Rin said, rolling his eyes. "Let's skip to the part where I check your stats."

"Be my guest." Saber said, and Rin concentrated as he scanned his Servant. A status screen appeared in his head:

 **Saber:**

 **Alignment: True Neutral**

 **Streangth: C+**

 **Endurance: C+**

 **Agility: C+**

 **Mana: B-**

 **Luck: D**

 **Class abilities:**

 **Magic Resistance: C**

 **Riding: B+**

Rin scanned the basic stats thrice. He felt like he was punched in the face every time. This was the strongest Servant, Saber?

"Um… Saber, are you sure that you're a Saber?" Rin asked in a restrained manner.

Saber raised her eyebrows in response.

"What do you mean?" She asked coolly.

"Well… None of your stats or skills are greater than B." Rin said matter-of-factly.

"And…?" Saber said as though she couldn't see what's wrong with the supposedly statistically-strongest class having such sub-par stats.

Rin suppressed the urge to blare at his Servant. But he still smacked a hand onto his forehead in exasperation. "I should've guessed the moment you opened your mouth…"

"Excuse me…?" Saber asked flatly in the exact same way Rin did last night.

"I mean to say that, "What one lacks in bite, one tries, and fails, to compensate with bark."." Rin said simply.

"So, you're implying that all I can do is talk tough?" Saber asked giving him a quizzical look while crossing her arms beneath her chest.

"I was also implying that you were a bitch last night, but yeah that aside you pretty much have the gist of it." Rin said without thinking. He almost regretted it when met with a venomous glare from his Servant.

The keyword here being "almost".

"I'm not taking it back until I actually see you do something impressive." Rin said, disregarding the glare and giving a withering look in response.

"I can't help but point out that you're judging me based on my stats alone." Saber said coolly, "I guess you're either shallow or stupid to a suicidal degree."

"Oh, so I guess you have some special personal skill or Noble Phantasm that makes up for your horrendous Stats and Magic Resistance?" Rin said, a condescending sneer playing on his face.

"Even if I did, I doubt I'll reveal them now." Saber retorted. Her jaw was set and her stare icy, and Rin didn't doubt his Servant's threat. He could always use a Command Spell, but that would undoubtedly increase her rebellious spirit rather than curb it.

"No matter." Rin said lightly. He crossed his hands beneath his chest in his signature manner; left hand beneath the right and the index finger of the left hand resting on the right elbow while the rest of the fingers were wrapped lightly around the end of his forearm.

He paced around the living room for a bit, thinking intently. He ignored his Servant's glare and tapped his index finger onto his elbow in a fast beat.

"Okay…" He suddenly said and stopped on his tracks. He turned on his heel to face his Servant and asked, "What does that plus beside your Riding skill mean?"

Saber raised an eyebrow but remained silent. After a minute of what amounted to a staring contest, the Servant relented and replied, "I can Ride most vehicles with over average skill, but the skill doubles in effect when I ride motorized vehicles. Which basically means that my fighting capabilities are treated as rank-up."

"Hm… So you're a relatively young Heroic Spirit. No wonder…" Rin thought intently, lifting his left hand to touch his chin with the back of the hand. A smile appeared on his face.

"So basically, you'll become less mediocre if I arrange for a mount?" Rin asked.

"Medi- tch!" Saber snapped before dematerializing, "You can fight the damned War on your own for all I care!" her disembodied voice said.

Rin sighed exasperatedly while waving his free hand airily beside his face. "Can't take what you dish out, huh? Well, no matter."

Rin briefly went back to his room to fetch his wallet and picked up all twenty-five of his jewels along with his father's pendant from the basement workshop. He paused for a bit to admire Saber's handiwork; the wall was as good as new.

"Good job, Saber." Rin said, trying his hardest not to sound sarcastic. He had the faintest feeling that Saber was still following him around in spirit form.

There was no reply, to which Rin shrugged and made to leave the house but was stopped by the ringing of the phone.

He picked up the phone in the living room, and as he anticipated (read: dreaded), he was met with a deep and monotonous voice which he'd come to hate, "Hello, Rin."

"Hello, Kirei-sensei." He said with every ounce of sarcasm and disdain he could muster.

"Congratulations on summoning your Servant. I was beginning to wonder if you'd decided to forfeit this time."

"There's no way I would do that," He replied coolly, "it would be a disgrace to the Tohsaka name."

"The Tohsaka name, eh?" The Fake Priest replied mockingly in a voice which almost sounded amused, "You'd do that for a name you've come to resent?"

Rin gripped the receiver tightly to calm himself and replied as calmly and detachedly as possible, "Of course. It's called "Filial Piety"; have you ever heard of it? I daresay Kotomine-san's soul would be able to rest in peace if you'd had even a modicum of it."

There was a brief pause where his menacing aura diminished a bit, and Rin smiled to himself victoriously. But suddenly a small chuckle came from the other side, "You've learned well, Rin. You're becoming more and more like your dear sensei every day."

"I'll never be like you, Kirei." Rin hissed in a venomous voice.

"Hmm? If you wish." Kirei replied in an offhand voice, "I just called to inform you that if you lose your Servant or wish to withdraw from the War, come to the church. As the overseer, I shall grant you sanctuary."

"Reluctantly, I presume. I know how fond you are of mindless carnage and suffering."

"Sharp of tongue as always, I see."

"Why, thank you. Having someone like you as a guardian is excellent practice. There's nothing quite as satisfying as giving a pathological bully and sadist a tongue lashing."

"You flatter me so. But the offer is genuine, as it is my duty as Overseer to make sure casualties are at a minimum."

"How nice. Showing common human decency out of duty."

"I know that you're not taking this conversation seriously, but discretion is the better part of valor." There was a short pause where the menacing aura became palpably potent, "You already witnessed what overreaching one's limits can cause. You wouldn't want to end up like Kariya Matou and Tokiyomi-sen-"

Rin slammed down the receiver violently. His body was shaking from all the emotions gushing inside him and not one of them were pleasant. In fact, most of those emotions are ones he actively tries to suppress. He took deep breaths to calm himself, and noticed dully that his hand was still gripping the receiver tightly to the point that his knuckles had turned white.

There was silence for a long while, in which he composed himself. While he was almost sure that Saber was with him at the very moment, he wished that she hadn't witnessed that disgraceful display.

He went out of his house and locked it from the outside, simultaneously erecting the protective Bounded Field to keep intruders away. He hesitated a bit as he mentally debated his next course of action. After a moment of deliberation, he broke into a purposeful stride.

He walked in almost a trance-like state, scarcely looking anywhere but his feet. After what seemed like just a few moment, he arrived in front of the cemetery on the outskirts of Miyama City near the area with Western-style houses.

He closed his eyes for just a moment, as though bracing himself before entering though the front gates. He passed row after row of graves, each one of differing ages. Some had fresh flowers or bouquets lovingly placed upon them, and he was rather surprised to find it mostly empty. Almost halfway to his destination, he reached the section where he refused to enter… at least, for now. So he avoided that particular row, but he couldn't help casting a glance towards the direction of those two graves…

He was finally there. At a secluded and empty corner of the cemetery was some empty space. A single mound marked with shabby sticks, which looked quite out of place in this western-style cemetery filled with handsome grave markers, stood looking quite forlorn. In fact, a few more rain showers would probably wash away the mound, sticks and all, and make it just another piece of land still unoccupied by a grave.

Rin looked at the "grave" he had made so many years ago… He meant to bury a lot of things in it. But it was a shrine to his ultimate failure, and most grievous betrayal and a memory of a person he's still unable to understand.

"Matou Kariya… The Holy Grain War is beginning again." Rin began slowly, carefully measuring each and every word. It was silly; he wasn't usually this sentimental. In the years which this "grave" existed, he had never bothered coming to visit it after building it out of a whim. He was surprised that it still existed to this day.

But hopefully it'll wash away in either rain or melting snow in the near future, and he'll soon be able to wash away all his regrets as well.

"I've summoned my Servant, and am ready to face anyone who comes in my way." He breathed, not quite sure the reason he was telling the "grave" this. There supposedly wasn't anything left of Kariya to bury, so it's not like he was speaking to the Matou's remains. But he still pressed on, "I won't run away. Not like last time."

Rin could feel himself begin to tremble slightly, "The night… The night you killed my mother, I was there and I ran away. You didn't even have the decency to stay alive long enough for me to face you and get revenge."

"You always were kind to us, me and Sakura." Rin exhaled heavily, and his breath nearly caught in his chest, "Okaa-san as well. But you still strangled her. You didn't even show her an ounce of mercy. And the only thing I could do was watch before running away."

"You know the worst part? The last thing she heard from me was that she was cold-hearted and I hated her." Rin attempted to chuckle, but only a strangled kind of coughing noise came out of his throat. "Sounds like something out of H.C. Anderson's fairy tales, huh? But it's true."

"But I'm stronger now. I don't intend to let anyone die in front of me during this war." Rin told the grave resolutely, "And I don't intend to become twisted by my goals like you. Both of the Tohsaka siblings will be visiting their parents' graves by the end of the War, I assure you."

Rin finished; there was nothing more left to say. He closed his eyes for a moment as though in prayer, and turned to leave. He looked back briefly and said, "Good bye, Matou Kariya. This is the first and last time we meet like this. Unfortunately, I'll not be visiting you again when I come back to notify my parents about my victory in the Holy Grail War."

Rin trotted off, and just like that he was at the entrance of the cemetery again.

"Master…" He nearly jumped when Saber's voice flitted in from nowhere.

"…So you were eavesdropping, huh?" Rin muttered coolly, "If you intend to show some condescending sympathy, save it for someone who actually wants it."

"No." She replied calmly, "I simply want to point out that there's still a very important part of our contract left."

Rin raised his eyebrows as he started walking towards Shinto. "And that would be…?"

"Your name." Saber said simply.

"Hmmm…?" Rin frowned as he vaguely remembered something, "I think I remember you calling me by my name. Didn't I tell you earlier?"

"Nope." Saber said curtly.

Rin shrugged. "Okay. My name's Tohsaka Rin. Call me anything you want."

"Hmm… The name suits you nicely, Rin." Saber said in an unusually chipper voice.

"We're already on first name basis? I can't decide if it's flattering or creepy." Rin said in what was supposed to be a sing-song voice, but understandably, it sounded rather flat.

"Fickle creature, aren't you?" Saber joked, seemingly not fazed.

"Nope," Rin said, "Just impossible to please."

* * *

The sun was soon down, and the lights of Shinto flickered into life. Rin and Saber had just finished scouting and having a brief overview of the city from the roof of the highest building in Shinto.

"There aren't many places where Servants can have battles. Well, unrestricted ones." Saber concluded as he scanned the whole city. "The commotion would surely attract attention."

"Yeah." Rin said, standing at the edge of the roof to get a better look at the busy street in front of the building. A light wind picked up, and Rin shielded his eyes. "But then again, Shinto's as good as a ghost town after ten. Even Miyama City doesn't get as deserted at that time."

"This area is probably one of the best places for Servants like Archer." Saber said, "The high vantage point and relatively clear view it grants to the surroundings makes it an invaluable place for any Archer. I bet competent ones could use their Noble Phantasms to aim as far as across the bridge."

"Really?" Rin said, quite impressed. "I guess we should set some traps here, then?"

"I wouldn't advise that." Saber said seriously, "Archer is one of the Knight Classes, remember? They'd most likely have high enough magic resistance to nullify any trap weak enough to not be detected by another competent magus."

Rin frowned, "You're right…"

"The best course of action would be to keep to heavily populated areas at a far enough distance to make sniping us down impossible." Saber advised Rin, turning to give a meaningful look at him.

"Saber, I refuse to use civilians as shields." Rin said, scandalized. "I wouldn't dismiss the possibility that a callous enough master wouldn't care about casualties as long as it took us out."

Saber looked at Rin with an odd expression.

"What!? I'm all for pragmatism, but I can't drag innocent people into this!" Rin snapped. He was amazed when Saber began chuckling good-naturedly.

"Geez, I couldn't ask for a more perfect Master." Saber said appreciatively. "So, Master, listen closely since I'll only say this once: as long as you stay true to yourself, my sword will be yours to command."

"…Thanks." Rin said, blushing a bit. "And… I'm sorry for all the things I said this morning. It was childish of me." Rin said in a small voice, refusing to look at the scarlet-clad servant.

A sound of snickering from his Servant made him bite the inside of his cheek in embarrassment. "A-anyway, let's go. I have this feeling that I'm being watched."

Saber nodded. But instead of turning to go back down the stairs as Rin expected, she wrapped her arm around him and leapt off the building with such and amazing amount of force that they were rocketing towards the next building.

Rin was caught off guard, but the brief flash of terror was replaced by an adrenaline-fueled exhilaration as he felt the cool wind slap against his face and weightlessness. He nearly voiced his exhilaration, but decided against it. He didn't think he could take another bout of embarrassment in front of his Servant that day without lashing out again.


	5. Night of Fate

_**Night of Fate**_

"What?" Saber asked flatly.

Rin almost didn't heed the Heroic Spirit as he buttoned up his uniform and brushed the front of it gently to get rid of some imaginary wrinkles.

He turned to face the exasperated Servant and stated plainly, "I said, I'm going to school."

"I know what you said." Saber replied calmly.

"Then I don't think further explanations are in order." Rin replied, smiling in sincere manner, "I'm telling you, not asking you and I fully expect you to accompany me."

"I hope you remember that we're in the middle of the Holy Grail War." Saber said drily.

"Oh, really? Gee, I totally forgot." Rin said, still smiling.

"Rin, I don't know how you spontaneously developed an attitude problem," Saber said, aghast, "But please be reasonable, it's suicidal to be in public without protection."

Rin cocked an eyebrow, "You're with me, what more protection do I need? We'll just mow down anyone who dares to face us." Rin said simply.

Saber looked at her Master, awestruck. There was silence for a few seconds where Saber seemed to process what Rin had said, and was soon bursting with laughter.

"I was right yesterday." She said between chuckles, "You are suicidally stupid."

"Don't forget "a fickle creature"." Rin said as Saber vanished, going into spirit form so they could leave.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Saber couldn't help but ask as they passed the road lined with western-style houses, "How did it go from "mediocre" to "we'll mow down everyone in our path"?"

"I didn't use a catalyst." Rin said simply, "And the Grail chooses the most compatible Servant for the master when they lack a catalyst for the summoning. There's no way that a mediocre Servant would be compatible to me of all people."

There was a brief silence as they reached the intersection, and Saber sighed palpably before saying, "Unbelievable. So your confidence in me is just spillover from your own self-confidence?"

Rin rolled his eyes, "Spillover? You're making it sound like we're in a game."

"…You're not even trying to deny it now. And you call me twisted."

"Don't have a cow, Saber. I've been in the school for a year now, if there was another Magus capable of becoming a master, I would've sensed it long ago. Besides, the only Magus family in Fuyuki besides the Tohsakas has declined to the point that the supposed "heir" doesn't have a single magic circuit in his system." Rin said matter-of-factly.

"If you say so… But, hypothetically speaking, if there was a Master-" Saber started shrewdly only to be cut off by Rin.

"I'll just beat the crud out of him or her and remove his or her command spells. Simple."

"Simple-minded, more like."

"Hypothetical situations are hypothetical precisely because they're unlikely. I'm rather thorough about the Magical happenings in Fuyuki because my family is the second owners of the land." Rin replied calmly. There were more and more people in Homurahara uniforms around them as they approached the school.

"Having connections with the Church and Mage's Association also helps. Though, I do recognize that I wouldn't be notified about the Master representing the Association. But I doubt someone from the Association would have the audacity to risk exposing magic by picking a fight in a school." Rin continued.

"Hmm… Fine, then. But still stay on your guard." Saber said as they reached the gates, "Better safe than sorry."

As soon as they passed the threshold, Rin felt Saber come to a stop. "What's wrong?" He asked, frowning and disregarding some looks from the passersby.

"I feel… something." Saber said rather unsurely. There was a hint of unease in her voice which worried Rin.

"Can you specify what you mean by "Something"?" Rin asked, frowning heavily.

"Don't you feel it? There seems to be more ambient mana here… The mana in the air also feels like there's something mixed with it. Almost like magecraft..." Saber said, rather unsure now that Rin didn't seem to feel anything.

"Let's go to someplace a bit more discreet." Rin said urgently, "We can investigate a bit before class."

They both scurried off to a secluded part of the school near the archery range. Rin hid beside the archery range, just out of sight. He could just make up an excuse if discovered here thanks to his semi-regular visits to the archery club.

Rin closed his eyes and extended his senses outwards. There… really wasn't anything wrong. He concentrated harder, trying to detect even the slightest traces of magecraft utilizing of influencing the mana in the air.

Nothing.

He notified Saber that he didn't find anything. There was a brief pause at that, and Rin could feel that Saber was thinking intently.

"Are you sure? I have this nagging feeling…" Saber's voice trailed off, as though even she was having a hard time believing herself.

"Actually, I'm sure about the fact that I can't detect anything." Rin replied simply, "I'm not sure that there actually isn't anything. Making undetectable traps and bounded fields is the mark of a first-class magus."

"Aren't you a first-class magus?" Saber asked a bit bemusedly.

"I am." Rin said without a hint of hesitation, "But I also admit that I have a lot to learn. I'm using conventional means of detection, but it's not always foolproof. I assume you're quite sensitive to magecraft even though you're not a magus, so you can detect… whatever you're detecting."

"So, what do you intend to do?" Saber asked, as Rin crossed his arms beneath his chest in a pensive manner.

After a few moments of tapping his feet on the ground, Rin replied, "Saber, can you scout around the school and find the approximate locations of where the feelings are the strongest?"

"I could, but wouldn't it leave you defenseless?" Saber said, reluctant to leave his master open for attacks.

"I've got something arranged." Rin said, grinning confidently, "I might not be able to defeat a Servant, but I sure can survive long enough for you to come to my rescue."

"Geez, this overconfidence of yours is going to get you killed." Saber said, more amused than annoyed as though to say "That's my Master for you."

* * *

It was nearly night by the time Rin and Saber had returned to Homurahara. Wisps of navy clouds littered the violet colored sky and the last traces of vermilion on the western horizon was rapidly fading away. Rin stood at the gates of Homurahara High for a moment, "The school sure is creepy during the evening… Hey, Saber, where did you get the strongest feeling?"

"There were a few points, like in the library, faculty office, the third corridor of the second floor, near the field behind the school and on the roof." Saber said, in a way that made it seem she was checking each name off a checklist.

"Sounds bad… Almost all of those places are usually really crowded during school." Rin said, his fists clenched. "Let's go check out the second floor corridor first."

Both of them calmly walked towards their destination as though to mask the urgency they felt. When they reached their destination, Rin looked around the area Saber had indicated.

Again, nothing.

Rin was getting frustrated. He couldn't actually find any form of magecraft. But even he had a kind of inkling that something was wrong. It was more of an intuition than anything, but he decided to have faith in his instincts and his Servant.

For a few minutes, he tried every possible method to locate magecraft, but all his efforts were ineffective.

"I can't find anything." He told Saber dejectedly.

"Well if tha-"

"I didn't say that I'm giving up!" Rin snapped, and his Servant sighed in exasperation.

" _Think, Rin, think…_ " He told himself in his head as he thought, resting his chin against the back of his right hand.

"Saber, can you tell the exact location where you're getting the strongest feeling from?" Rin asked again.

"I've already told you where," Saber replied, "but I'll try to narrow it down."

The scarlet-clad woman looked around the area, occasionally kneeling down and feeling around the floor. Finally, after five minutes of searching, she called urgently, "Rin, I think it's here!"

He was looking at the wall facing classroom 2-B. Rin scurried over and faced the wall. He placed a hand on the wall and concentrated. Instead of trying to detect abnormal magical energy, he began to infuse his own prana into the wall.

"Aha…!" He whispered as the prana he was providing was absorbed into a magic circle, which glowed a faint purple as it absorbed the energy.

He kept a steady trickle flowing, and inspected the magic circle. The circle, lined with some ancient letters Rin couldn't identify, seemed to hover over the wall rather than carved onto it. He added a fire and metal aspect to the prana, and faint chain-like lines spread from the magic circle to the air around them. They looked almost like spiderwebs spreading through the air, only the fine threads hung in the air in a ghostly manner as the prana dissipated.

"…! Saber, this is a Bounded Field." He whispered, taking his hand off the wall.

"Bounded Field? What does it do?" Saber asked with a frown.

"It's… too complicated for me to tell." Rin said rather begrudgingly, "This is top notch magic; nothing like I've ever seen before… The most I can say is that it's supposed to change the space it confines."

Saber was dumbstruck for a moment, "You mean… like a Reality Marble?"

Rin raised an eyebrow at his Servant. How a Saber knew about something as advanced as a Reality Marble was beyond him, but decided to postpone asking about this. There was something more important at the moment.

"Almost… But there's a big difference." Rin said, "Reality Marbles are unique to the individual and more or less static in nature, thus are called "Innate Bounded Fields". This Bounded Field sits above reality unlike a Reality Marble, which replaces reality altogether within the area of effect. It's like the person made a completely different reality from scratch to sit above the World. It's magecraft, but magecraft taken to such extremes that it's almost on par with Sorcery."

"How do you know the Bounded Field effects reality? It might be something else entirely, like a bloodfort, for example." Saber said, rather impressed at Rin's knowledge.

"Because the Bounded Field is inscribed onto the space, not any solid area." Rin breathed, "I've never encountered this kind of magecraft, but I did read about it. Found it in one of Master Zelretch's books on Multi-Dimensional Refraction Phenomenon and Spatial Distortion. But this kind of thing is almost on par with Sorcery or True Magic… Not just any mage could make this."

"Caster, eh?" Saber asked grimly.

"It could be Berserker for all I care," Rin breathed, quite enraged, "how dare they making something like this in my territory!?"

"Can you remove it?" Saber inquired.

"I might… I can't remove the individual nodes such as this one." Rin told her, "Even I'm not that skilled... If I could find the anchoring point…"

"Anchoring point?"

"Remember how I said that the Bounded Field was inscribed onto the space? Well, the Earth is constantly moving, right? Technically, if we inscribe any magic circle onto a space without a fixed point of reference for it to anchor itself against, it'll just drift away."

"So essentially the anchoring point is like the origin of a three-dimensional coordinate system?" Saber said, and Rin nodded in response.

"We have to check each point, though." Rin grumpily, "This'll take all night."

"No need." Saber replied, "I think I know where the anchoring point is."

"Really?" Rin asked, impressed. Saber nodded and led them towards the staircase. They climbed up to the third floor, and then to the roof.

"I should've known." Rin said, disappointed in himself for not figuring it out.

"Don't worry about it." Saber said, smirking, "It's the geniuses who make the stupidest mistakes."

"Gee, thanks." Rin said sarcastically as Saber began to search for the point again.

After a few more minutes, Saber called Rin to attention. He approached Saber who was kneeling near the center of the roof. He prepared to pinpoint the anchoring point more accurately, but was interrupted when a voice called to them, "Yo, what are you two looking for?"

"Oh, just the anchoring point for-" Rin started before whipping around to look at the source of the voice.

There he was on the roof of the stairwell, a man clad in blue spandex with matching hair flying messily around his face. His eyes were a bright crimson and showed a hunger for battle. A bestial kind of scent came from the man, and his lean body was crouched onto the ground to mirror a beast ready to pounce on its prey.

Rin felt the inhuman amount of magical energy coming from the man, and he was without a doubt a heroic spirit… But which class?

"The anchoring point for…?" He asked, cocking his head in a kind of mock-curiosity.

"None of your business." Saber said, standing in front of Rin in a protective manner.

"Lively one, aren't you?" He said, grinning, "I like that in women."

"Argh…" Saber rolled her eyes, "Did you come to fight or to flirt?" Saber took a fighting stance and a pair of short swords appeared in her hands. She held both of the swords in reverse-grip, which Rin guessed was a sign that Saber was going to fight defensively.

"Of course we're gonna fight, but that doesn't mean that we can't have other kinds of fun, does it?" The man said, calling his own weapon to his hand. It was a scarlet spear, almost two meters in length. The blade was also a shade of scarlet with groves at the base of the spearhead which resembled thorns.

"Lancer, eh?" Saber asked, her expression stoic.

"Maybe…" The man smirked. A light breeze flitted through, and the man's flyaway hair fluttered lazily.

Suddenly, a suffocating feeling engulfed Rin. It was an instinct beyond instinct, and it was screaming to him to get away from this place as fast as possible.

He could only register the man's muscles tense up for a fraction of a second as he pumped all the prana he could to his legs. He leapt sideways, and in a flash of scarlet he felt a slight pain in his cheek and a warm liquid run down it.

Lancer had almost impaled him through the throat, but a combination of him leaping away and Saber deflecting the blow allowed him to escape with only a scratch.

His heart still throbbing from the close call, he activated his Magic Crest as he leapt over the fence to create distance between him and the man. But as he plummeted headfirst downwards, his fall slowed down by the spell he activated from his Magic Crest, a sound of clashing steel prompted him to twist his body to get a look at what was happening.

The man had swept Saber away with his Spear and was charging towards him with incredible speed. Just before he was out of Rin's sight, he saw the man jump onto the partitions around the roof, and using that as a platform to spring downwards towards him. But Rin was already retaliating.

"Gandr!" He reacted without thinking, and he simultaneously cast a spell to increase the speed of his fall.

He was astounded when the spell actually did cause the Servant to flinch ever so slightly, but he concentrated on fortifying his body to withstand the fall as he was propelled backwards from the recoil of his Gandr shot.

As he fell down and rolled on the ground, he was able to catch a brief flash of Saber kicking the man from behind to ground him. There was a huge crash and tremor as the Servant hit the ground.

Ring scrambled to his feet just in time to witness Saber shoot into the plume of dust rising from the place where the man in blue landed and cause the cloud to dissipate. A clang of steel meeting steel followed as the scarlet spear and twin short swords met.

Rin looked on in awe as clang after clang of their weapons meeting filled the air. It was as though watching two whirlwinds, one blue and one scarlet clash into each other. Sparks flew with each clang of steel, and it was only those brief moments when Rin could get a proper look at the Servants before they became blurs of movement again.

Rin watched the fight rage on in front of him, he could barely follow them, but he could see that Saber was being pushed back by the ferocity of the attacks of the blue spearman. The scarlet clad female was only able to parry the savage spear as it thrust towards her relentlessly, and her efforts to push back the spearman only caused him to close the distance between them with his superior speed and the reach of the spear.

Saber was twirling and twisting to bring the two swords in front of each thrust, and the spear was deflected from its course only to find another place to pierce. Again and again she defended, but the ruthless attacks went on. But a different sound rang, and it was reminiscent of someone running a sharp knife's blade over a metallic surface forcefully.

And the tables were turned as Saber was relentlessly attacking, the swords weren't in reverse grip anymore. The spearman's superior reach from his spear was turned against him as Saber went full melee, disallowing proper movement of the spear.

Rin understood; the shaft of the spear, instead of clashing with the sword, slid on the flat of the blade by which it was being parried, causing the spear to not lose momentum and the blue spearman to get too close to the scarlet knight, allowing a reversal.

Another grand clash, and Rin was able to discern the two figures once more. The spearman was blocking the two swords with the pole of his spear, and Saber was pushing against him with all her might. Saber briefly looked over the spearman's shoulder to give Rin a look.

The fact that his magic had some effect on the spearman hit Rin, and he brought out three of his jewels, a ruby, a sapphire and an emerald and held them between his fingers.

"Schneidlicht!" He called, and the different colored prana mixed to glow a brilliant white. He tossed the three jewels at the blue spearman with all his might, and they transformed into three white hot beams of light. Just before they reached the spearman, Saber pushed him backwards and escaped herself.

The three beams of light hit the spearman, causing a huge explosion where he was standing and both Saber and Rin were blinded for a moment by the intense light.

But-

"Heh… You shouldn't have done that, boy." The spearman said, shrugging off his bloody back like it was a minor injury, "You see, I'm angry now. You should never make a Berserker angry!"

With a bestial roar, the man seemed to transform. His face became contorted with rage, and his scarlet eyes began to glow with an animalistic kind of fury. It was as though the spearman had lost all of his humanity in those few seconds, and like the monster he resembled, he lunged at Saber with twice the speed he had possessed before.

It had turned into an uphill battle. Now with Berserker's Mad Enhancement activated, his power had ascended to a league of his own. Instead of those measured thrusts of a seasoned warrior, Saber was now facing a barrage of swings of a barbarian devoid of all reason. The spear had become more of a bludgeoning stick as it was swung around without regard to the shaft.

But it seemed that the more time went, the less bleak the fight began to look. Saber was getting used to handling those chaotic swings, and the lack of technique and finesse couldn't be compensated through the extra power alone.

It was not long before both of the Servants were at a stalemate. Yet, Saber couldn't get past the Mad Warrior, as his strength and speed were still well beyond her own. Rin, realizing that the fight was going nowhere, began to provide rear support by firing Gandr at the area of the duel.

Berserker, lacking any form of Magic Resistance, was hit by the bullets of condensed curses, but Saber had just enough Magic Resistance to cancel the single-action spells.

However, the Gandr shots was unable to do anything more than slightly inconvenience the spearman. Rin was at the point of contemplating the use of a command spell, but a shriek brought him back to reality.

The spearman, seeing a silhouette, promptly disengaged from the fight and like a whirlwind ran off after the witness, who Rin saw flee into the building.

Rin sighed in relief as he approached Saber, "That was a close one."

"We're lucky that some idiot came to investigate the commotion." Saber said, "They saved our lives… for the price of their own."

There was a moment when realization struck Rin, and he felt lightheaded. Someone had witnessed the fight, so according to the rules of the War, they were to be eliminated.

"Saber! After him!" Rin all but yelled, and Saber wordlessly rushed off to the rescue of their unwitting savior.

Rin couldn't stay here. He began to spring towards the building himself, and another vaguely familiar shriek came from the second floor. When he was about ten feet from the building, the sound of breaking glass made him look up and two figures came plummeting down.

"Aufsteigen!" He yelled, putting his right palm towards the ground beneath them and a whirlwind rose beneath the two falling figures. The winds slowed their fall, and they landed safely just in time for another round of clangs to begin anew on the second floor.

He approached the figures, "Emiya-san, Sakura!?" He gasped, finally able to see them in the darkness.

"T-Tohsaka! What's happening-" Emiya tried to ask as she and Sakura got up, but Rin swiftly picked them up by their waists and sprinted off towards the gates as fast as possible. He had to save the both of them. There wasn't any time for explanations.

Emiya was trying to speak to him in flustered stutters as he raced towards the front gates, fortifying his arms and legs as much as possible.

Rin heard a distant sound of breaking glass over the wind howling against his ears and Emiya and Sakura's shrill squeaks, and a sense of dread filled his heart. He came skidding to a stop and unceremoniously dropped both the girls on the ground.

"Both of you, keep away! Hide, run, anything. Just don't stay here!" He told them urgently and brought out two more jewels; and amethyst and a sapphire.

Before either of them could stop him, he was running full pelt back towards the school. A figure in blue was quickly approaching, and he began to chant with the jewels in his hand,

 _"_ _Dünn wie_ _band noch stärker als stahl,_

 _durch_ _Gleipnir-Anleihen Ihr Schicksal Ich versiegeln!"_

He tossed the jewels which were glowing lavender. The spearman swerved to avoid them, but the jewels exploded into ribbons of talisman cloth made of energy and ensnared him.

Berserker struggled against his bonds, and Rin was horrified when he saw that he was escaping them through sheer brute force. Tears appeared in the ribbons, and even as he reached for some more jewels, Berserker was able to break free of his bonds and lunge at him with his spear.

It was as though time was going at half its pace. He felt the dread of certain death as the shaft of the scarlet weapon flew towards him. Dimly, he noticed Saber screaming something as he tried in vain to reach him.

Yes… there was screaming, but the white noise in his head was blocking it all out.

But before he could react, a girl dressed in the Homurahara High uniform stepped in front of him.

The scarlet lance pierced the girl in the heart, and he felt warm liquid splash onto his face. The spearhead was protruding from her back, and blood was leaking out in a steady stream. It was a brilliant shade of red, just like her hair…

"Emiya…" He heard himself croak out. Even Berserker seemed shocked as he pulled his spear out of the girl, his eyes returning to normal.

Emiya toppled forward, a pool of her own blood starting to collect around her body.

Rin's own shuddering scream mingled with a shriek from behind him, and as Berserker was slashed by Saber and kicked away, Sakura scurried to Emiya before kneeling beside her unmoving body.

The fight was about to restart just a few feet away from them, but Rin had had enough. "Anfang…" He said, and the Command Spells inscribed on the back of his hand lit up, "Saber, have no mercy; I order you as your Master to destroy Berserker."

With the command, Saber received a spurt of power. Through the haze covering his senses Rin saw her not only match Berserker blow-for-blow, but also wound him a second time. It seemed that the fight was sealed, but-

"Tsk… Let's finish this another time." Rin heard Berserker say over his own shuddering breaths as the spearman made an escape. Saber made to chase after him, but she looked Rin in the eyes and remained in place.

Rin took some wobbly steps towards the bloody body of Emiya Mashiro and dropped onto his knees. Soft sobs which he guessed was from Sakura was the only sound he could hear.

...The heart was pierced, and it was only a matter of minutes before the girl was beyond saving even by means of Magecraft. He turned Emiya over, at the same time thinking of the complexity of repairing a destroyed heart. He knew very well that the chance of success was low, since he had little experience in this particular type of magecraft...

But the jewel warmed by his body, the pendent of the necklace he had inherited from his father, which was resting against his chest near his own unharmed and still-beating heart, had enough power to make skill irrelevant.

He pulled the scarlet jewel out from under his shirt with shaking fingers as he tried to steady his breathing and silence the screaming inside his head. He clenched the jewel in his fist and put the palm of his other hand behind it before bringing it near the gaping hole in Emiya's chest.

Scarlet light filled the area as he used all the prana stored in the jewel to craft a new heart from the remains of the destroyed one. As the light subsided, he saw the hole in the chest fill out and knew he had done it; the feat would've allowed him instant admission into the Association were there any official of the organization present.

A moment of silence.

"Senpai…?" Rin heard Sakura call him after stifling her sobs.

"A-are you okay, Sakura?" Rin asked her, finally able to look her way.

His mind was in too much of a disarray to wonder why Sakura was looking him with such a strange look on her face. "I'm… Fine, Tohsaka-senpai."

"Good… good…" He heard himself murmur. "Do you… do you know where Emiya lives?"

"Yes. She took me there yesterday, I think I still remember the way there…"

He absently nodded. Without a word, he picked up the bloodied girl in his arms in a bridal carry.

"Rin, let me-" Saber started, but was cut off by Rin, "You keep guard… I'll handle this."

Saber didn't respond, and Rin looked at Sakura, who nodded and began to lead the way.

* * *

 **Berserker:**

 **STR:** B+  
 **END** **:** C+  
 **AGI:** A+  
 **MGI:** C  
 **LCK:** C  
 **Noble Phantasm:** ?

 **Class Skills:**

 **Mad Enhancement:** B- - -

Raises basic parameters in exchange of hindering mental capacities.

Every time Berserker receives damage, this skill activates after a successful luck check. Causes the Servant to go into a blind rage in exchange for enhancing Strength, Endurance and Agility. For every wound inflicted onto a target by the Servant, a successful luck check is required for the continued activation of this skill.

Note that the skill deactivates when the Disengage skill is activated.

 **Personal Skills:**

 **Disengage: C**

Disengage is the ability to break away from combat.

Bonus effects of this skill include disabling Mad Enhancement and returning battle conditions to what they were at the beginning of the match.

 _ **A/N:**_

Apologies for the crude German.

 _ **This chapter has been updated, the Author apologizes for the earlier version which was quite shabby and lacked flow. Thank you all for the reviews, favorites and follows!**_


	6. Black and White

_**Black and White**_

The streetlights of Miyama City flickered to life as the sky turned a solid navy blue. The highly suspicious group of teenagers were marching towards the side of Miyama City with Japanese-style houses in silence. The girl with violet hair led the dark-haired teen carrying a bloodied girl.

Sakura walked a few feet ahead of Rin. She looked back at him momentarily. Almost ten minutes of complete silence followed the incident, and Rin only recently seemed to come out of the reverie.

Sakura kept silent and looked forward, feeling relatively safe in the presence of Rin and the white-haired woman, who, at the moment, was invisible.

Another minute of deafening silence followed. Sakura internally struggled to decide whether she should say something. Rin was obviously distressed, but one wouldn't notice if they didn't pay close attention.

Indeed, he seemed completely stoic, but the brief crack that appeared in his stern and cool mask made Sakura realize that he cared a great deal more than he let on about her.

" _Emiya-san, Sakura!?_ "

" _A-Are you okay, Sakura?_ "

These two sentences still rang faintly in her ears.

How many years has it been since he called her by her first name? Since her first year of middle school to this day, she'd only been "Matou" or, more recently, "Matou-chan"… Yet, in the fit of panic, he called her by her first name.

All these years, she thought that Tohsaka Rin resented her for that day…

* * *

It was another normal day for Sakura.

She had locked herself in her room, and like always was ignored by the rest of the residence of the dark mansion.

Of course she was ignored… She was more of a tool than a genuine family member, and the only time she was ever called for when some chore needed to be done or when the Old Man called her—

Sakura pushed those thoughts out of her head and curled into a tight ball under the comforter on her bed. Being wrapped up in the comforter was the only way she could generate a facsimile of the feeling of safety.

It was always the same; the "training", the feeling of isolation, those wretched things stirring inside her and making her feel weird which was cue for Byakuya to—

The only person who remotely treated her well was her foster brother, Shinji. But… in the back of Sakura's mind, she knew that even he would cease to do so after finding out about what was going on in the dark cellar beneath the mansion—

Her thoughts were wandering towards those subjects again… It was inevitable. A black haze constantly hung over her thoughts, and it was easier to become a doll than keeping her emotions alive most of the time.

A sound of the doorbell ringing made her stir. She slipped out from under the comforter, and almost robotically went to answer the door. It was probably Byakuya returning after nearly drowning himself in alcohol like always.

But she never expected the person she found waiting outside.

She blinked in disbelief, not daring to believe her eyes. Those aqua eyes, the dark hair, and that face…

"Sakura!" the boy standing outside, her older brother, said with equal parts of joy and worry before she was pulled into an embrace.

She could only stand stiffly. Shock and joy rouse in a crescendo within her, filling her up with the kind of hope she didn't dare to feel when Uncle Kariya embraced her while whispering promises of both of their salvation.

…And she gently pushed him to break the embrace. Those foul creatures began stirring inside her, and as much as she wanted to stay in his embrace, the signal that the Old Man was approaching neutered all positive emotions inside her.

"Sakura?" he asked, a look of sadness on his face.

"Good afternoon." She said, trying to sound as neutral as possible.

"What— Sakura, I'm here to take you back! You don't need to stay here anymore!" he said, perplexed at the lack of enthusiasm on her part.

"Ah, if it isn't the new Head of the Tohsaka family." A reedy voice greeted Rin, and his face instantly turned into a scowl. He looked behind Sakura coolly, and Sakura felt the gnarled hand of Zouken touch her shoulder. She fought the feeling of revulsion; the hand emanated a faint smell of rotting flesh but she was quite used to it.

"My condolences for the loss of your parents. It's a great tragedy for a child to lose both patents at such a young age." The Old Man continued, his kindly voice quite not reveling the sadistic pleasure he was probably deriving from bringing this subject up.

"Thank you for your kind words…" Rin replied, "It was unfortunate that none of the Matous were able to attend the funeral. I believe that the Matous and Tohsakas had an alliance, did we not?"

"Unfortunately, we already had another meeting that day." Zouken said indifferently.

"Ah, so it was important enough to merit Sakura missing her own birth parents' funeral. That was quite the meeting." Rin said, the polite tone of the statement veiling the sarcasm.

"Hmm? They weren't Sakura's parents. It would be pointless for her to attend even if we had some time." Zouken had abandoned all pretense, and Sakura almost felt his anger in the stirring of the worms.

"What!" Rin snapped, dropping the marginally polite tone as well, "She might be a Matou now, but they were her parents and still are! And I'm definitely still her brother!"

Zouken laughed nastily, and Rin glared at the old man with a surprising amount of intensity, "I have to admit, you're quite a bit more amusing than Tokiyomi. It was agreed between the two families that Sakura would be adopted by the Matous and in exchange the Tohsakas have to stay away from her. Can you afford to breach an agreement so shortly after becoming the new Head?"

"You know what?" he said loudly, "I was opposed to this stupid agreement from the moment I heard about it. I don't give a rat's ass about this agreement, Sakura's coming with me!"

"No." Sakura said before he could say anything more, "I apologize, Tohsaka-san. Please leave at once." She bowed in a polite manner as though to end the conversation.

"What are you saying?" Rin said incredulously, "You mean you don't have any problem with this?"

"Grandfather is the eldest in the family, what he says is for the best." Sakura honestly didn't believe what she was saying herself, but she had to do this… for Rin's sake, "And it's my responsibility to stand by his decisions."

"You see now, boy? You're just wasting your time here. There's no place for sentimentality in the heart of a true magus." Zouken said, relishing the look on Rin's face. Rin's glare was now directed towards Sakura.

There was a slight quiver in his voice as he said, "Fine, I guess I should've known that you'd still be angry about our parents giving you away for adoption. I can understand not wanting to do anything for their sake, but what about me?" His eyes lingered at the pink ribbon he had given Sakura before her adoption.

A part of Sakura wanted to scream out, "Yes, I want to go with you." But the vision of Uncle Kariya's lifeless body slipping down the stairs into the nest of worms, and the subsequent sounds of tearing flesh and crunching bones vividly played in her mind.

…There was no hope for escape. Only death awaited for her and Rin if he got on the Old Man's bad side. Her fate was already sealed, she couldn't bring herself to drag Rin down into the abyss with her.

"You've got it all wrong," There was a painful lump growing in Sakura's throat, but she had to say this, "I have no malice towards Tokiyomi-san and Aoi-san. It's just that I'm no longer a part of the Tohsaka family, Tohsaka-san. That name and family hold no value for me anymore."

There was a pause when Zouken looked on in sick relish he masked by wearing an expression of doting pride. Sakura could feel his fingers digging into her shoulders, and that more than anything kept her composure as Rin's eyes seemed to well up just a bit.

"Fine," Rin said coolly, "it's your life Matou Sakura, so I have no right to have a say in it."

He paused and closed his eyes before turning away wordlessly. Without a backward glance or a farewell he left.

Sakura closed the door and made to leave, but was stopped by the foul hand on her shoulder.

"And excellent choice, Sakura." Zouken said in his best imitation of a kindly voice. He let go of her shoulder and placed the hand on her head before continuing, "Although I have to say, I'm disappointed in not being able to make an example out of him as well…"

The way his voice gently trailed away made a shiver go up her spine. Zouken probably felt her shiver as he started chuckling.

"He would've made a fine carrier of the Crest Worms. Being an Average One means his body wouldn't need much modification to adapt to the Water attribute of us Matous, unlike you." He continued in such a casual manner that Sakura couldn't help but feel sickened.

"Maybe I should offer you in exchange for hi—" He added in almost a thoughtful manner.

"No! You leave Nii-san alone!" Sakura shrieked, cutting him off and even she was surprised at hearing her voice go beyond a timid whisper.

A gnarled hand grabbed her chin and forced her to look into Zouken's face as it approached her. His breath smelled of rotten flesh, and Sakura would've vomited had she not been used to it.

"'Nii-san', eh?" He said, his putrid breath going over Sakura's terrified face, "And here I was hoping you had accepted your position. Remember this, you're mine now. You can't escape. I know everything you say and do, so any resistance will end in the Tohsaka brat being fed to the worms."

Zouken smiled and let go of Sakura. He left her there, frozen in horror.

She couldn't believe what the Old Man had just told her, but she didn't dare write it off as an empty threat either.

* * *

"Sakura… Are we nearly there?" Rin said, breaking the silence for the first time and bringing her out of her reverie.

"Y-yes, we're almost there. Only a few more minutes." She replied, rather flustered.

"Um… Is it just me, or is Miyama City totally deserted?" Rin asked her, realizing a bit too late how suspicious they must look and the police would've caught them a few times over by now if someone had seen them.

"Didn't you see the news? There've been many disappearances lately… Fuyuki's in a state of panic." Sakura replied. She slowed her pace so that she was walking beside Rin.

"Really? I need to watch the news more often…" He sighed.

"Ah…" Sakura looked at Emiya who was starting to stir faintly.

"Well, she took her sweet time." Rin said, trying to sound grumpy and failing spectacularly.

"Mmm…" Emiya's eyelids fluttered for a bit, and for a moment it looked like she was looking at Rin before snuggling closer and falling asleep.

"Wha- For the love of-" Rin spluttered, and Sakura couldn't help but laugh at her brother's embarrassment.

"This isn't funny!" Rin glared at Sakura, but the effect was greatly diminished by his tomato-red face and overall flustered demeanor.

"Okay, okay." Sakura said, still smiling, "But I think you owe it to her. She saved your life, after all."

"I think I more than replayed the debt." Rin said sourly, "I used two of my trump cards. Two!"

"It would've been worth it if I got to beat Berserker," Saber chimed in, "But someone had to get sentimental at the wrong time…"

"You're never going to let me forget it, are you?" Rin asked the invisible woman drily.

"Only until we actually beat Berserker." Saber said replied rather coolly.

"Ah, we're here!" Sakura said before Rin could retort. They were standing at the base of a steady slope leading up a hill. The top of the hill housed an impressive Japanese style house which was the Emiya residence.

"Emiya-san lives alone, right?" Rin asked her as they approached the main gate

Sakura nodded in response, "But Fujimura-sensei drops in from time to time." She added.

"…It'll be such a bother if she does turn up." Rin sighed, "I guess I'll have to distract her if it comes to that. Wake Emiya up and have her change, I have to erase her memories of this whole fiasco."

"O-okay—" Sakura started, but was cut off by the voice of the invisible female.

"Rin, another Servant's close." The woman named Saber warned sharply.

"What!" Rin exclaimed, "Oi, Emiya, wake up!" he said urgently to the girl and shook her a bit.

"Mmm… huh?" She said groggily as her eyes fluttered open. She looked around, disoriented and confused, but her eyes focused and she was able to assess the situation she was in.

She instantly turned red and struggled to get down. Rin obliged her by dropping— putting her down on the ground grumpily. She seemed to be processing what to say, as Sakura could almost hear the cogs in the redhead's work furiously.

"I'll explain everything later; you can have your shoujo-manga moment then." Rin said sarcastically, with the effect being diminished again by his furiously scarlet face. But it was too late, as a voice from behind them chimed in at that moment.

"Hello." The bell-like voice said. The phrase was imbued with a kind of elegance by the regal voice. The group turned around to face the source, and there they saw a pre-teen girl wearing a royal purple coat, with matching purple fez and white scarf. The girl had porcelain-like skin, shockingly scarlet eyes and white hair which shimmered like strands of silver in the light of the lamppost she was standing under.

She inspected the silent group for a few moments before curtsying politely, "Good evening. My name is Illyasviel von Einzbern. It's a pleasure to meet you all." There was an eerie quality to the greeting. The phrase "Never speak ill of the Dead" popped into Sakura's mind at the tone, and a slight shiver ran up her spine.

"Good evening…" They replied, however odd it might seem.

The girl— Illyasviel, straightened up and gave them an innocent smile. "It was lucky that Onee-san woke up… I wanted to speak to her so much."

"Uh, umm…" Emiya looked confused for a moment, as though she couldn't quite recognize the girl, but a look of understanding came to her, "You're the girl who I met the other day!" She exclaimed.

Illyasviel looked pleased that Emiya had remembered her. "I'm glad that you didn't die tonight, Onee-san," She said. The statement was completely innocent and friendly, but Sakura couldn't help but feel unnerved, and her discomfort was proved to not be irrational when she continued, "Remember, your life is mine."

"W-what do you mean?" Sakura asked the girl, but all she got was a scowl-like look of acknowledgement before she continued as though she hadn't been interrupted.

"So please summon your Servant soon," Sakura quickly turned to look at Rin whose expression had become stony, "the Holy Grail War will begin tomorrow. And make sure to summon a good Servant, I don't want you to expire too easily." The girl said it all without losing that innocent look…

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Rin demanded loudly, "Do you mean that Emiya is a Master?"

A figure clad in armor light blue in color faded into existence beside the princess-like girl with a look of disapproval on his face. The young man who looked about Rin's age had light-brown hair and forest-green eyes, a slim scabbard was at his hip and a shield with an upright pentagon was strapped to his gauntlet-covered left arm.

"Hold your tongue," He said commandingly, "that is not a tone I will allow you take against Milady."

Saber also materialized in front of them in a protective matter, her face expressionless.

"Thank you, Archer." Illyasviel said dismissively, turning to face Rin behind Saber, "I appreciate your indignation on my behalf, but it was quite unnecessary. I never quite expected courtesy, Grandfather Acht had already told me all about the general dispositions of "their" kind… Tohsaka-san, I'd presume?" She added the last par while tilting her head.

Rin didn't quite answer, but leered back at the girl.

"No matter." She said, straightening up. "Come, Archer. We'll come back when they're ready. I doubt you'd want to tarnish your knightly honor by fighting a weakened opponent."

Sakura had the faintest feeling that the girl had put a subtle emphasis on the word "Archer" both times…

"But of course, Milady." The Knight in Azure said with a polite curtsy, "Let us make haste, then. Sella-san and Leysritt-san must be worried."

"Well then, bye bye. It was nice to meet you all. Especially Onee-san" Illysasviel said, curtsying again. Sakura suddenly felt an inhuman amount of magical energy radiate for a moment from the albino, and with a sideway glance she confirmed that Rin had also felt it. It seemed like a show of power, just to make sure that they did not dismiss her words as merely bluffs.

Both the figures turned, Archer faded out of sight as he turned. Illyasviel momentarily glanced back, and Sakura was surprised that it was she who Illyasviel looked at…

As soon as the group was out of earshot Rin said icily, "…Emiya-san, I think we need to talk."

* * *

Servant Sheet:

Archer:

STR: A

AGI: A+

END: B

MANA: A

LCK: C

Noble Phantasm: ?

Personal Skills:

Double Summon:

Allows the use of the class skills and capabilities of two different classes simultaneously.

Usually only accessible by Rider, Caster and Assassin classes, it seems Archer has both the class skills and parameters of the Saber and Archer classes, with Archer as his primary class.


	7. Vortex of Fate

_**Vortex of Fate**_

The living room of the Emiya household had the distinctly oppressive air of an interrogation room that day.

Not that Mashirou was being interrogated. In fact, Tohsaka had only spoken once when asking for some tea after he had asked to speak to her. He let himself into the kitchen and brewed a pot of tea before setting it on the table along with teacups in front of each of them: herself, Sakura, himself and the white-haired woman who she for some inexplicable reason hated with a passion.

He was sitting straight across from her, his face was expressionless and the only thing that differentiated him from a statue was the fact that he occasionally brought the steaming cup of tea to his lips to take a silent sip.

Among the things she had found out that night were: Tohsaka Rin was a magus and Sakura probably was one too, she was a "Master" of something called The Holy Grail War, she was supposed to do a summoning ritual to summon this thing called a "Servant" which was probably something like a familiar so that an albino girl who she met just yesterday doesn't kill her for god-knows-what reason. Oh, and her heart was destroyed and she was hanging between life and death until Tohsaka fixed it with magecraft.

In short, tonight was the night Emiya Mashirou's life went to hell in a pretty picnic basket covered by a dainty pink cloth to muffle her poor brain's cries of anguish from the effort of trying to process it all.

Also, Tohsaka was creeping her out with his stare that went through her. "T-Tohsaka, say something!" She finally said aloud in an agitated voice.

In response, Tohsaka buried his face in his right hand.

…Was it really that exasperating, the fact that she was totally unable to tell what was going on behind that mask called Tohsaka Rin's face?

A soft, almost inaudible sound resembling snickering fluttered in from towards Tohsaka's general direction. Mashirou saw a brief flash of aqua from between his fingers.

Tonight she also found out that Tohsaka Rin was a fucking Troll.

Her irritation was probably showing on her face, as Tohsaka straightened up instantly and coughed, his face perfectly stoic as though saying, "Nope, wasn't snickering at your discomfort at all."

…And he's downright mediocre at hiding it.

"So, I guess we have a lot of ground to cover." Tohsaka said matter-of-factly. "I'm guessing you don't know anything about magic, right?"

"Actually," She started as he took another sip from his cup, "My dad was a Mage and he taught me a bit, so…"

Tohsaka's eyes widened and he gulped down too much of the tea, causing him to cough and splutter. Sakura worriedly thumped his back, and the White-haired woman just smirked victoriously before smacking him so hard on the back that he nearly fell face-first onto the table.

" _I've been in the school for one yea-_ " She started in a mock-cocky voice, only to be cut off by a livid Tohsaka snap, "Not. One. Word." As he wiped his mouth with the back of his mouth.

"But honestly, I'm not that good of a mage. I barely have any magic." She continued, rather perturbed by the intense glare Tohsaka was giving the still smirking woman. "Heck, I have a hard time handling the Bounded Field over the house… So I keep it deactivated. "

"Are you nuts!?" Tohsaka asked a little too aggressively making Mashirou frown and lean away a bit, "What kind of magus keeps the bounded field of his workshop down on purpose?"

"Um… If what I said before wasn't an indication, I'm not really a proper magus." Mashirou said plainly and took a sip of her tea. "I can only manage reinforcement magecraft…"

"You-you really are nuts!" Tohsaka snapped, earning a raised eyebrow from Mashirou.

"What are you angry at me for?" She whined. Tohsaka's eyes widened for a bit and he straightened up looking apologetic.

"I'm sorry. I guess I'm just on edge." He took a deep breath and conjured a stern look on his face reminiscent of a concerned adult about to scold a child for attempting to play with scissors, "But really, I'm right to be angry at you. You just gave away the secrets of your magecraft."

"Why does it even matter?" Mashirou asked back, and she couldn't help but notice the two other women hovering at the sides. The woman she couldn't help but dislike was still holding a victorious smirk which Tohsaka seemed to be ignoring intently.

"It matters because now I can guess what you might attempt at a given situation." Rin explained calmly, "Since you are a Master, we might as well face each other sometime in future."

"About that, I still have no clue about what this "Master" business is." Mashirou said.

Tohsaka sighed, "Well… First tell me how you two got into this situation."

Emiya and Sakura looked at each other and Sakura started.

"Well… Um, Nii-san and I got into a bit of an argument before practice started the day before yesterday." Sakura said, averting her eyes from Tohsaka and looking into her cup of tea which had gotten cold as though she had found something interesting in there.

"I'll assume that means you tried to make Shinji behave and he flew off the handle and hit you." Tohsaka said calmly, sipping his tea with a scowl on his face.

"N-no, it—" Sakura started, but was cut off by Tohsaka.

He looked at Mashirou and said rather coldly, "Emiya-san, you continue. I'm having trouble hearing Sakura. She speaks a bit too softly, you see." He added the last part in a particularly indifferent tone, which made Mashirou expect that the statement was a veiled insult directed towards both herself and Sakura.

But she brushed off the thought, looking at a Sakura who struggled to deny Tohsaka's theory.

"You're right, that's more or less what happened." Mashirou said plainly, casting an apologetic glance towards Sakura. Sakura quieted instantly, looking back at her cup of green tea dejectedly.

"Please continue." Tohsaka said, ignoring Sakura.

"Um… Well, Shinji was angry the whole day after that." Mashirou explained, "I felt kind of sorry for Sakura, so I invited her over and had Fuji-nee—Fujimura-sensei, I mean, lie to her family that she was invited to stay with her."

"Well, that explains why you two were together." Tohsaka said, emptying the teapot into Saber's cup, who thanked him softly. Mashirou noticed that even though the woman gave the impression that she was uninterested in the whole affair, she was actually listening intently to every word.

"But how did you two end up in school that late in the evening?" He continued.

"Mitsuzuri kinda asked me to help fix some of the equipment in the archery range," Emiya said rather sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head, "But I also had my part-time job in Copenhagen—"

"…You work part-time in Denmark?" Tohsaka asked incredulously.

"Pfft… It's the name of a bar in Shinto, idiot." Saber said before Mashirou, snickering.

Tohsaka raised an eyebrow at Saber, "And how, exactly, do you know that?"

"Our brief scouting of Shinto." Saber said smoothly, but Mashirou felt there was a touch of dishonesty in her voice.

However, her suspiciousness was overridden by a faint feeling of amusement and a stronger feeling of exasperation at the embarrassed Tohsaka. Wasn't he supposed to be the smart one?

"Anyway," She said with a smile, "I had some work, so I decided to go to Copenhagen before tackling the equipment. I told Sakura to stay here, but she wanted to help me, so I let her come with me."

"Oh…" Tohsaka sighed, "Fate is such a b—bother." Mashirou had the faintest feeling that that last word wasn't as innocent as he'd like them to think.

"Well, now that that's cleared up, what do you intend to do about this?" Saber spoke for the first time in a while, looking at Rin with a scrutinizing look.

He frowned, bringing the cup he was still holding to his lips before realizing that it was empty. He put it down on the table and said with a resigned sigh, "I guess we'll have to take her to the Overseer. The fake priest will explain everything to her. This'll be a lot less trouble since she's yet to summon her Servant."

"Fine… I was expecting you to knock her out and take her command seals." Saber said.

Mashirou looked at Tohsaka furtively when he seemed to consider it for a moment, "Um… Tohsaka?"

"Don't worry, I don't intend to do anything like that." Tohsaka said, resting his elbows on the table and cradling his head between his hands to give her a mischievous smirk.

Mashirou pouted a bit and decided to clear away the table. Sakura quickly jumped to her feet to help, but she just thanked her and told her to leave it to her.

"Hang on…" Mashirou heard Tohsaka say slowly, "You two jumped out of a window! What was that all about, you could've gotten seriously hurt!"

"Well…" Mashirou said rather sheepishly, joining them back at the table. She started to reminiscence what happened earlier that evening.

* * *

Mashirou and Sakura panted as they fled to the second floor, hoping that they could find a place to hide.

Mashirou herself was keeping her pace well, but Sakura was getting tired fast. Mashirou had lots of stamina due to her training, but Sakura didn't have much stamina.

Mashirou could feel her slowing down from the extra tug she felt on the arm she was holding. But they didn't have the time to stop and rest for a second.

A prickling sensation on the back of her neck signaled the approach of a hostile foe. She weighed their chances and decided to run into a classroom, slamming the sliding doors behind them.

Just as they reached the other side of the classroom, the doors flew off their place violently and Sakura shrieked.

Mashirou could only register the crazed scarlet eyes of the monster in the shape of a man when her body went into overdrive and her mind became clear.

Burning. The world was burning around her. Ichor as black as death and charred flesh just as black.

Screams. Pain. Fear. Destruction.

A woman shrieked as her lower body was being slowly roasted beneath the burning debris.

Her hand was reaching out towards Mashirou.

Mashirou's charred hands weren't trying to pull her out.

Her hands weren't trying to remove the debris.

They were on her ears trying to block the screams out.

No, her hands were on a chair, the pain was her Magic Circuit coming into existence as a searing hot rod which was her spinal cord.

The screaming was of Sakura's as the reinforced chair shattered while trying to parry a scarlet spear like the tongues of flame rising from the corpse of a man being reduced to ash in front of her eyes.

Or was it just another pillar which once held a building up, which looked like it was squirming because of the tears which filled her burning eyes?

She hoped it were the latter as she closed her eyes to block out the visions as well.

No, she closed her burning eyes to block the smoke. The smoke smelled of burning flesh. It tasted of burnt teriyaki. But human flesh made terrible teriyaki.

Or was it the flying splinters she was trying to keep from her eyes as she dived away from the beast in blue as it tore apart the other desks blocking its way to them? She had the half-burned woman under one arm. The woman's mouth was agape and eyes sightless, but her screams still resounded.

A large rag, probably left by some student inside the mouth of a corpse crushed under the ruins of a house to silence its screams and let them escape with their conscience free of its wails for help flew onto her and Sakura's corpses to save them from the fire. Her body was still burning and prana was able to flow into the rag through her singed hands to fortify that as well.

Just as a boy about her age grabbed hold of her ankle to drag her into those scarlet flames as well, she swung the rag in front of her and it spread out and shielded like a veil.

The reinforced rag was able to deflect the spear wielded by the flames, and then she wrapped it around the flame's head to smother it. But the curiously blue flame snarled like a beast as it tried to throw off the rag from its head, the arms wielding the tongue of scarlet flame flailing around and barely missing her head which was bleeding copiously. But no one would notice that her hair was soaked in blood, it was already red so there wasn't any point in trying to brush it off with her already bloody hands.

Sakura's corpse was shrieking nonstop and another blob of scarlet flame and black ichor came to meet the blue flame maybe they didn't get along and there was the sound of collapsing buildings again.

They needed to get out of there, maybe she could jump into the flames. She had abandoned them all, so the flames could only hurt her. She still had the corpse of the woman under her arm so there was no time to think because she was still screaming and she had abandoned them all and needed to atone so she'll jump into the abyss of fire so she would burn and Sakura's body could be safe.

She jumped out of the window, reinforcing her body so that the fall wouldn't seriously injure her. A voice beneath them yelled something in a foreign tongue she didn't recognize and suddenly their fall was slowed so that they gently landed on the ground.

For a moment she thought that it was Kiritsugu who was approaching, but she knew better.

In the faint light of dusk, she identified the figure as a pale Tohsaka Rin.

* * *

"Emiya-san?" Tohsaka said, a frown etched on his face.

"Sorry," Mashirou said, putting on her best smile she hoped looked reassuring, "I was just out of it for a moment."

"Okay then." Tohsaka looked a bit suspicious.

"As I was saying, if you want to keep your status of Master, you'll need to be prepared to kill." Tohsaka said matter-of-factly. Mashirou almost did a double-take at that, wondering if she was hallucinating.

"K-kill!?" A horrified Mashirou asked. She quickly glanced at the back of her hand where the dark bruises that were the Command Spells then back to Tohsaka who was looking at her command spells as well.

"Not necessarily." Tohsaka said, oddly pleased at her reaction, "It's just a precaution to keep the defeated Masters from forming contracts with stray Servants. Eliminating the Servant is usually enough to make the Master a non-issue." He explained.

"But… What about people caught in the crossfire?" She asked again, "If there were more people like that spearman and his Master, a lot of people could get hurt or killed for being at the wrong place at the wrong time!"

"Honestly? Most Masters wouldn't give a damn about people caught in the crossfire." Rin said, rather ironically calm. "The Church and the Association will make sure the collateral damage is swept cleanly under the rug. Not that they'll thank the Master responsible, they would prefer to keep themselves a secret."

"What do you mean by "collateral damage"?" Mashirou exclaimed loudly, "It-it's messed up to call people that."

"…Senpai," Sakura said softly, drawing the three pairs of eyes towards her for the first time in a while, "I know that it's cruel to treat people like disposable objects, but… Most Mages don't think like you. They're more concerned with results."

"Sakura's right, Emiya-san." Tohsaka said, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"But-but! Tohsaka, you don't think like that, do you?" She asked him with the kind of intensity she rarely showed.

"Maybe…" Tohsaka said evasively, a mysterious twinkle Mashirou couldn't quite recognize playing at the corner of his eye. He placed his elbows on the table between them and linked his fingertips, giving an intent look at her from above them.

"I refuse to believe it." Mashirou said, "I know you're not like that."

"And how exactly can you be so sure about that?" Rin said icily, and Mashirou was taken aback for a moment.

She took a big breath and looked Tohsaka in the eyes, trying not to shiver from his look, "I know because you didn't leave me to die back then. You even used your trump card to save me."

Tohsaka looked a bit flustered, "W-well," he looked flustered a bit before he recovered replied, "we mages are also believers in Equivalent Exchange. You saved me and I saved you back. So we're even. You don't need to bother with that gratitude crap." He said harshly.

"Sure…" The white haired woman named Saber drawled, earning a glare from Tohsaka and a soft giggle from Sakura.

There was a brief silence where Tohsaka seemed to seize Mashirou up and then gave a theatrical sigh.

"Oh well, I guess we have some time to kill before I take you to Kirei." He said in a chipper voice. Mashirou was seriously creeped out by the bright smile Tohsaka had hitched on which came off as unnerving rather than friendly. "Please direct me to your Workshop."

"Workshop?" Mashirou asked, rather confused.

"…You know, your "Atelier"?" Tohsaka added with a touch of incredulity.

Mashirou tilted her head, the first thing coming to her mind was how perfectly Tohsaka had pronounced the French word. The second thing was the sheer stupidity of him trying to get his point across to a Japanese person by randomly throwing synonyms from different languages in.

"Oh…" She said quickly, before Tohsaka had a veritable fit from all that incredulity, "Follow me."

"Sakura, you stay here if you like. Saber, go to the roof and keep watch."

"Aye, aye." The stoic swordswoman said rather sarcastically and faded away.

Sakura just sat silently, indicating that she wanted to stay in the living room. Tohsaka frowned for a brief moment while giving Sakura an odd look before nodding and looking at Mashirou to lead the way.

She led him to the courtyard, occasionally looking back to see him looking around and taking in the scenery. They were in front of the shed behind the house within a few minutes, and before they entered Mashirou couldn't help but ask, "Um… Tohsaka, before we go in, I want to ask you something."

"Go on." He said, turning to look at her curiously.

"You- um, you're calling Sakura by her first name…" Emiya stated, feeling something like boiling water bubbling at the pit of her stomach.

Tohsaka seemed to process the statement in slow motion as his face steadily showed shock and his mouth gaped in a half-gasp.

"We-well, our families are both Magus families and had an alliance for a few generations." Tohsaka said hastily, "We've known each other since we were kids… So we tend to be a lot more informal in private."

"Oh…" Mashirou said and felt rather ashamed at herself for jumping to conclusions, "Let's go inside!" She added before scurrying inside the shed which she used as a personal workshop and garage.

"Wait, what were you about to ask?" Tohsaka said suspiciously as he followed her inside the dark room.

"Uh, um… Nothing! Just killing time! Heheheh…" She said, raising her arms in front of her defensively and backing away from an increasingly livid Tohsaka.

"Emiya-san…" Tohsaka started in a dangerous voice as he took a menacing step towards Mashirou, "I was completely honest with you today. Would you please do the same courtesy for me?"

There it was; the Tohsaka Rin patented smile of doom. He would've made Marquis de Sade proud with that completely friendly smile which was playing on his face even though he was exuding a venomous aura of malice.

"We-well… I was wondering whether you and Sakura were an ite—"

"ARE YOU A FUCKING PSYCHO, EMIYA!?" He roared with a look of absolute disgust, and Mashirou toppled backwards onto her backside in her hurry to back away from him.

She broke her fall with her hands; a sharp object she couldn't identify in the darkness cut into her palm and it started bleeding onto the floor.

Before she knew it, she was engulfed into a pure white light. Her body felt on fire as something inside her clicked and heat radiated out of her body. A stream of energy flowed into her from the air and from the tips of her body it flowed into the area in front of him.

Another flash of light, and a soft silver radiance like moonlight replaced the blinding white light. A flurry of movement which was too fast to make out yet inhumanly beautiful in the way that it made blue and silver mingle filled her sight, and a muffled yell brought her from her reverie.

Her sight finally adjusted, and she saw the gallant figure of a blonde young man clad in silver armor over blue clothes present himself in front of her. He was holding something invisible in one hand which only announced its presence through the faint rippling of the scenery around it, the other hand was extended towards her.

A soft smile played on his face and those astonishingly blue eyes sparkled even in the dim lighting of the room. He spoke in a boyish yet refined voice, "I am the Servant Lancer. I ask you, are you my Master?"

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

Sorry, couldn't resist. :P

Although one should note that Lancer is more of a Male Saber than Proto!Saber as Lancer.

Guess the pairings!


	8. Renewing The Vow

_**Renewing The Vow**_

Tohsaka Rin turned uneasily in his unconsciousness, his head throbbing like crazy and his eyelids feeling as though they were made of lead. Try as he might, he couldn't open his eyes, and even the faint light coming through his eyelids intensified the pain in his head. But he forced himself to sit up despite being unable to open his eyes. His body was a lot more cooperative, thankfully. He was still disoriented, though. The throbbing in the back of his head made it almost impossible to collect his thoughts and memories.

He rubbed his eyes and then cradled them in his palms. The pinkish-white of the light coming through his translucent eyelids were replaced by a faint pink before being replaced by a pitch black. The throbbing, while still present, stopped feeling like it permeated his whole head and began to recede after a few minutes while he became more and more aware of what had transpired before his slumber.

Yes… He was with Emiya and…

His head snapped up in an instant, almost causing his head to swim again in a way that made him feel like vomiting. But he ignored it and forced his eyes open to see an unfamiliar Japanese-style room. The light made him squint as he impatiently blinked to get his eyes accustomed and attempted to get out of the bed. As he turned to get off his bed, a pair of hands firmly held his shoulders and kept him in place. Astonishingly blue eyes framed by blond hair like the beams of the midday sun filled his sight. They sported a worried and somewhat apologetic look as a boyish yet refined voice said, "Please, stay still. You were hurt quite badly then, so it'd be unwise to move so suddenly."

Rin stopped struggling, but nonetheless pushed away the hands of the boy from his shoulders and backed away a bit. He couldn't quite recognize the person, but the intensely inhuman aura he radiated indicated that he couldn't be anything but a Servant.

"…You're Emiya's Servant, aren't you?" Rin asked in an almost defeated manner.

The boy… or perhaps "Young Man" would be more fitting, looked startled. He opened his mouth once, but no sound came. Rin raised an eyebrow, wondering what part of the question was so shocking to him.

"But- this can't… How do you know?!" He finally spluttered after a few moments, a touch of hostility in his voice evident. Rin simply raised his eyebrows higher in response,

"Um… I distinctly remember that the only Master without a Servant within a few miles is Emiya." Rin replied drily, quite tired of the amount of unexpected surprises he had to face that day. Thankfully, as indicated by the Family Crest engraved on his left forearm releasing prana within his body, the injury to the back of his head was being healed and the pain subsiding. At least that was one less ache to handle.

A look of understanding and faint horror appeared on the youth's face before vanishing into a dignified and stoic mask. "Ah, so you're referring to Mashiro." He said, (Rin noted that he was mispronouncing her name), "My apologies, I wasn't told her full name. It was a mistake on my part."

He straightened up, his posture impeccable, and said, "Accept my apologies again, I assaulted you without a second thought. I was under the impression that you were threatening to assault Mashiro."

"…What if I don't forgive you?" Rin asked rather drily, wondering where Saber was. "I might just be a very spiteful person."

"It would be unfortunate," The Servant replied smoothly, "however, it is unwise to assume that one would receive closure in every kind of situation. So, I would simply accept it and move on. However, I shall show you no mercy if you attempt to harm me or my Master due to that spire."

"Wow, I see that Sir Stick-up-his-butt doesn't understand sarcasm." A snide female voice came from the open window. Saber materialized, perched atop of the windowsill with her legs hanging outside while she looked over her shoulder towards the two young men in the room.

The Blonde looked unfazed, "I was simply assuming that he was being serious based on the fact that we weren't having a conversation that would usually solicit sarcasm."

Before Rin could retort, Saber replied, "You'll find that my Master has a very hard time with the concept of "prudence" when he's not trying to project the image of a prissy honor student." She said it with the same formal air that Saber had but was obviously making fun of both of them.

Rin sighed, not feeling well enough to snap at Saber and addressed the young man in silver and blue wearily, "Could you call Emiya for me? I need to speak to her about the situation at hand…" He gave a look at the blonde and he understood as he replied with a slightly inclined head,

"Lancer. I shall notify Mashiro and Lady Sakura posthaste." He walked out the door gracefully and closed it behind him, giving the swordswoman in red perched on the windowsill a last look and nod.

"Ah… Damn it!" Rin whined as he threw himself face-first into the pillow as soon as Lancer's footsteps couldn't be heard.

"Damn it all! Why is this happening to me?! Whyyyyyyy!?" his voice was muffled but still audible to the Servant.

"Because you're awfully idiotic for a self-proclaimed genius." Saber stated in a mock-chipper voice. "Maybe if you were a little less cocky… Or, I guess had less of a moral compass-" She added the last part after a thoughtful pause.

"Yes, yes, it's all my fault." Rin said in a defeated tone. "I give up… Nothing goes my way even when it goes my way…"

Rin heard Saber sigh audibly. "Come on now… The Holy Grail War has barely started and you're already whining like a child."

Rin slowly sat up and looked at Saber with a sour expression, "I understand that… I'm just really not sure I'm cut out for this. I can't get into that mind frame of a Magus without acting like it was some kind of game."

"…So that's why." Saber said, and Rin could've sworn that there was a touch of affection beneath that tone of understanding. "I guess it was odd how… immature you acted randomly."

"But Master," Saber said seriously, climbing into the room and sitting on the bed, "This isn't a game. I know that you also understand what the stakes are."

Rin simply nodded in acknowledgement.

"Being… Well, I dabbled a bit with magecraft myself in my lifetime. My teacher was a lot like you, but he was still achieved a lot of things despite not being able to act as that ideal Magus obsessed with reaching the Root at all costs." Saber said after a bit of hesitation.

"Hmm…?" Rin was somewhat shocked by the revelation, but nonetheless noted to keep that information in his mind.

"You can do a lot of things other Magus would be unable to do because of your qualities… And I assure you, most Heroes would be a lot more cooperative with you compared to that ideal "Traditional Magus" archetype." Saber continued, "So keep your head up. If you have a wish you think is worth fighting for, that's all the justification and qualification you need to participate in the War."

"Thanks, Saber." Rin said after a few moments, looking at the back of his hand where his two remaining command seals were etched. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry that I'm the ass you're stuck with. And everything."

"Come on," Saber said, half-flustered, half-exasperated, "there's no need to get sentimental. We're stuck with eachother, so let's make the best of it."

Rin smiled, and extended his hand towards the Woman in Red, "Let's fight for eachother's wish."

Saber gave an amused sigh and shook his extended hand, "Let's fight your terrible luck together."

"Considering you answered my summons, I wouldn't be too thrilled about your luck either." Rin retorted drily, but smiling nonetheless as they broke their handshake.

"Fair point." Saber agreed.


	9. A Budding Alliance

_**A Budding Alliance**_

Sakura chopped up the large yellow onion into fine wedges as her Senpai tended to the roux behind her on the stove. She was nearly done, and was somewhat thankful for the work keeping her mind off of this situation she had gotten herself into.

She was undoubtedly still concerned about Rin, who had been unconscious for two hours now. It was Emiya-senpai's idea to start preparing dinner while Lancer stayed in the room to wait for him to come to. While she was known to be somewhat oblivious at time, it seemed she was able to tell how worried she was.

Unfortunately, she had misinterpreted what had her worried, but Sakura was touched, nonetheless. It was an odd feeling, having others actually care for your wellbeing out of genuine concern rather than some form of self-interest.

"Sakura," She was snapped out of her contemplative state by Emiya-senpai's voice, "Are you done with the meat and vegetables? The roux will take a bit more but the dashi is more or less done."

"Ah, yes senpai." She replied, meeting the red-head's gaze and noticing that the blonde flour and butter mixture Emiya-senpai had been stirring had turned a chocolate-brown.

Emiya-senpai smiled, "Great! You can fry the meat and veggies into the pot before adding the dashi, then." She opened the lid of the decently large pot full of gently simmering brown liquid that had been infused with Kombu, Katsuobushi and a single chicken bouillon cube beforehand.

Sakura cocked her head, the part of her that was quite fond of cooking (and, she believed, somewhat accomplished in it) making her say, "Senpai, isn't Japanese-style curry usually made with just chicken bouillon or the stock from the fried meat and vegetables?"

Emiya scratched the back of her head sheepishly, "It's… well, it's my own recipe. I think the extra umami from the traditional dashi makes it a lot more delicious."

"I see…" Sakura said, and before she could stop herself she blurted out, "Shouldn't we caramelize the onions? It'd add a lot more savory-sweetness to the curry that way."

Emiya-senpai's eyes brightened and she let go of the wooden spoon she was using to stir the roux with. With a wide smile she clasped both of Sakura's hands in hers, "That's brilliant! That way we could also add half the spice mix into the onions so that they can infuse into the oil and release more of their aroma!"

Sakura felt a bit embarrassed at the praise, "W-well, it isn't anything special… I just suggested it since I saw it once on TV."

"Either way, it's a great idea. I'm really glad I have someone to cook with me, for once." Emiya-senpai said, as she let go of her hand and went back to stirring the roux so that it didn't get burned.

Sakura was rather surprised, "Um… Didn't you tell me that Fujimura-sensei practically lived with you? I thought that she must've helped with cooking, seeing as how you live alone."

Emiya-senpai's expression darkened in a mixture of exasperation and disappointment, "The only food-related job Fujimura-sensei does around the house is eating." Her voice was grim and small as she added half of the spice mix to the roux.

"Eh…" Sakura said, trying to not laugh or seem amused.

"You must really have a high opinion of Fuji-nee, Sakura." Emiya commented, somewhat sheepishly. She added some tamari, ketchup and oyster sauce into the now deeply brown colored roux.

"Well… I don't know. I know she can be a bit childish but she always came across as someone who can be dependable when it mattered." Sakura said truthfully. "Maybe she thinks that you can feed yourself so just doesn't try to get in your way."

Emiya-senpai sighed as she turned off the heat and carefully removed the roux after thinning it with some of the dashi and put it on a far corner of the kitchen counter. "I guess… But I wish she wouldn't come across as a freeloader most of the time."

Sakura giggled despite herself, "You shouldn't talk about your teacher like that, Senpai."

"I guess so…" Emiya-senpai's voice trailed away as she took another large non-stick pot to caramelize onions in some vegetable oil.

"U-um…" Sakura said slowly, "Maybe do it in a stainless steel pot? You won't develop fond properly if you do it in a non-stick one."

The slapped her hand loudly on her forehead, "Of course! Thanks Sakura, I was working on auto-pilot there."

"It's no problem… I hope I'm not being too much of a bother…" Sakura said, bringing the chopped onions to the stainless steel pot her senpai had brought out. She scraped the chopping board with the knife into the slowly simmering vegetable oil. There was a low hiss as the onions hit the simmering oil.

"Not at all!" Emiya-senpai said while waving her hand airily. "As I said, it's actually really nice to cook with someone. Makes it feel less like a chore and I'm more inclined to experiment."

"…" Sakura remained silent, but was thrilled on the inside. Despite the repercussions that might come later, she felt… "at home" here. Almost as if she's a normal person that doesn't have those… _things_ crawling about inside her.

"I wish you could come over like this often…" Emiya-senpai said in an offhand voice, "It'd be a nice change from my regular routine."

Sakura looked sideways, her eyes wise and almost not believing what she had heard.

It was some sick joke, right? Some depraved higher being that ruled her fate was setting a stage to another twisted comedy. It began with a promise of some semblance of idyllic happiness, a faint ray of hope in the abyssal despair, only for the light to be snuffed completely and her being dragged deeper into the pits of hell as the punchline.

But… Was that really the case? The person beside her was smiling so gently, so genuinely as she busily bustled in the heat of the kitchen… the same person who defended her selflessly when others would've simply looked away…

How could she call that deception?

Actually, she could… But that would mean to tell herself that she wasn't worth saving. She wasn't worth defending. She was filthy, sub-human even. She was tired of telling herself that endless despair was her lot in life.

She wanted to resist.

"Y-yes. It would be wonderful… I-uh, actually would love to cook together occasionally." She said, trying to contain the quiver in her voice.

Emiya-senpai beamed at her before returning to the curry they were preparing, now the seared meat, caramelized spiced onions and chunks of carrot and potatoes swimming in the umami-packed dashi.

"I'm…" Sakura said, swallowing as a lump in her throat came up, "Thank you."

"Hmm…?" Emiya-senpai looked up at her and gave her a quizzical look.

"Oh-um, it's just that we don't really cook that often at home, seeing as it's just me." Sakura quickly said a half-truth, "Grandfather is on a… special diet and Nii-san usually eats outside. So I don't bother too much for my own meals."

"Sakura!" Emiya-senpai scolded, "That's not good for your health! You're still growing and you need to eat balanced meals."

"W-well… I'm trying not to gain too much weight!" Sakura said rather defensively.

"Hmph! I can't believe Mitsuzuri hasn't rubbed off on you. Isn't she still captain of the archery club? She doesn't buy into this nonsense about staying petite, and neither should any girl." Emiya said, still in that sister-like lecturing demeanor. "If you want to watch your weight, exercise with me instead of starving yourself."

"Maybe I will," Sakura said, a wide smile plastered on her face… It felt almost unnatural, and her face muscles were stiff. When was the last time she smiled so elatedly?

"I apologize for butting in." A male voice came from behind them. Sakura and Emiya-senpai turned simultaneously to see the blonde man in silver armor behind them. "But the Master of Saber has awakened. He asked to see you, Mashiro."

"Thanks, Lancer." Emiya-senpai said, smiling, "I'll be there in a bit. I just need to finish up with making dinner. Sakura, why don't you go ahead with Lancer?"

"But… Senpai, Tohsaka-senpai asked for you specifically. It'd be rude if I showed up instead." Sakura said sincerely, "You can go ahead! I'll keep watch over the pot."

"Well… It's almost done anyway." Emiya-senpai said, "I just need to mix in the roux. It'll just need to simmer after that. Let's finish up here and we'll be there in five minutes."

Sakura nodded, and Emiya senpai looked at the blonde. Sakura noticed that he seemed to be sniffing the air with a blissful look on his face.

"Lancer?" Emiya-senpai said, either not heeding or not noticing that fact, "I'm sorry for asking you this but could you tell Tohsaka to wait a bit? We'll be there soon."

Lancer swiftly straightened up, expertly hiding the fact that the scent of cooking food had been able to entice him, "W-well, he was having a conversation with Saber. While I wasn't able to catch anything specific, I gathered that it was private in nature. I think it won't be a problem if we're a bit late."

Emiya-senpai cocked her head a bit but shrugged dismissively nonetheless, "Okay, I guess. Why don't you take a seat and we'll call you when we're done."

Lancer nodded enthusiastically in response, and it was with great difficulty Sakura was able to suppress her laughter. She really couldn't recognize herself today.

* * *

"It took you longer than expected… Was there a problem?" Rin asked them as they all entered into the room. He was sitting on the bed, his hands together and his elbows on his thighs while his chin rested on his overlapping fingers. Saber was leaning against the wall near the foot of the bed, right beside the window, her hands crossed and face stoic.

Sakura was quite surprised, she expected Rin to be a lot less calm in these circumstances.

"We were just finishing up making dinner." Emiya-senpai said matter-of-factly. "Lancer said you were having a private conversation with Saber so we decided to give you some privacy."

At that, Rin looked at Lancer and scowled. Unfazed, the blonde replied, "I apologize, but it wasn't deliberate. We Servants have sharper senses than normal humans, so I was able to tell that you two were speaking. However, I assure you that I did not hear anything specific."

Rin sighed, probably deciding that it didn't really matter that much and addressed Emiya-senpai, "So… I guess that the chances of you not getting involved have significantly gone down with Lancer being summoned."

Emiya-senpai nodded in response, looking a bit worried, "So now what?" She asked, "You wanted to take me to see the Overseer… Now that Lancer's been summoned, do you think that they'll be willing to help."

Rin considered for a moment, "Honestly? If it were any other Overseer, I would've said "Yeah, there's a good chance", but with this specific person…" His voice trailed off, a look of disdain flickered on his face beneath the concern, "Regardless, we're still trying it. He's our only hope, after all."

Emiya-senpai nodded, and Sakura's previous elation had been drowned out by a flood of dread. Was Senpai going to become another casualty of this accursed Holy Grail War?

"T-Tohsaka-senpai," Sakura spoke up, and Rin's eye's snapped towards her, "Even if… Even if the Overseer refuses to help, you'll help Emiya-senpai, right?"

There was a brief pause where the room seemed to get colder from the silence, "I will. Without a doubt." Rin said, straightening up.

Sakura's heart felt a lot lighter seeing that her brother hadn't given up all of his humanity in his effort to be the next mage in the Tohsaka line.

She was about to give a sigh of relief, but Rin continued in a resigned voice, "However, that's only until she's an unaffiliated third party. The moment she decides that she wants the Holy Grail for herself, we'll be enemies."

He looked at Lancer without a hint of hostility, however the Knight took a slightly more aggressive stance from the previous upright and regal posture. "Is that acceptable, Lancer?"

Sakura bit her lip, her heart deflating like a punctured balloon as she looked at the handsome blonde.

There was an awkward silence where both men seemed to seize eachother up, intense aqua dueling with a shocking blue, but Lancer restrained himself, "I guess it's only fair that you and your Servant would not give your desire for the Grail to aid a competitor, regardless of whether they were originally an innocent bystander."

"I assure you though, even if she decided that she wanted to win," Rin continued calmly, "I would offer to cooperate until we were the last ones standing. Knowing Emiya, she would be the kind of participant I would be at ease about the most. She wouldn't drag innocents into this just to win the Grail." Rin added the last part, seemingly to make sure that he wasn't doing it out of the consideration that Emiya-senpai would be an easy person to beat if it were down to only them. And that statement restored all of Sakura's faith in him.

"Well… Thanks, I guess." Emiya-senpai said. She really looked like she couldn't think of how to reply.

"That is most noble of you." Lancer said approvingly, a slight smile coming to his lips, "And I would happily work with such a comrade and Master. As a Knight, I wish to make this war one where the participants can fight fairly and honorably."

Saber snorted and entered the conversation for the first time, "With Servants of classes like Assassin and Caster running about, I doubt that you'll get what you want. We even had Berserker try to kill your Master and Sakura earlier tonight just because they saw us fighting."

"I know." The knight replied, a subtle crease forming on his forehead, "I am not naïve enough to think that everyone would fight honorably. The prospect of having ones deepest desire granted can and will make even the most virtuous of people resort of unscrupulous means. But I will not tolerate someone endangering the innocent, whomever they may be."

"Well then," Rin said as though to settle the conversation, "let's head over to the Church as soon as we can." Rin motioned towards his blood-stained clothes, "I'll need to clean up this first, though. Thankfully it won't be really noticeable at night and because my clothes are already black and red."

"Wait, you can change into my Old Man's clothes." Emiya-senpai spoke up, "I've kept them in his closet. They might be a bit big, but I think they'll do for tonight."

"Thanks, Emiya." Rin said with a small smile.

"Um… I'm sorry to ask you this," Emiya-senpai turned towards Sakura, "But could you set the table while I get some clothes out for Tohsaka?"

Sakura smiled and shook her head, "It's no problem at all! It's you we should be apologizing to for having dinner here so suddenly."

Saber, on the other hand, simply disappeared wordlessly.

Rin nodded at Sakura with a slight smile as he followed Emiya-senpai out of the room after she explained to her where everything was. Sakura herself was about to go set the table, but was stopped by Lancer's voice.

"Uh… I'll help you set the table, Lady Sakura." Lancer came forward with a smile.

"Oh…" Sakura felt somewhat awkward at the offer, but accepted nonetheless, "Well, thank you. It would be nice to have some help."

The Blonde Knight stepped outside the room behind her without another word and followed her lead. The long, Japanese-style hallway of the building almost gave off an aura of melancholy in the silent night. Even their footsteps on the wooden floor sounded mournful, as though they were the chaotic beats of funeral drums.

"This place… It's seen tragedies." Sakura whispered to herself unconsciously. But the feeling wasn't "evil", unlike the Matou Mansion… The house itself was in respectful mourning. For whom, she did not know, but the person undoubtedly wanted to make this house into a warm home…

"Indeed." Lancer said in an indiscernible tone, which made Sakura jump, "Ah, I'm sorry if I was interrupting you. I assumed you were speaking to me."

"N-no need to apologize!" Sakura stammered, "I was just thinking out loud."

"I see." Lancer said lightly.

With that they began walking again, perhaps in a slower pace than before. The silence between them was becoming more and more awkward though. Every second made Sakura more and more self-conscious.

She was almost relieved when Lancer inquired, "If you don't mind me prying… How did you come to that conclusion? I gather that it's your first time visiting this place."

Sakura bit her lower lip, debating whether she should tell him… But she decided to remain silent.

Lancer seemingly understood and refrained from inquiring any further.

* * *

Sakura was still unsure whether telling him was the right idea even as they were setting the table (she couldn't stay serious, however, as she could practically hear how much Lancer's mouth was watering as he handled the curry-filled pot)… But nonetheless, perhaps it was a harmless bit of information to give to a non-Caster Servant.

"My elemental affinity and Sorcery Trait is Imaginary Numbers." Sakura said, not looking at Lancer. Lancer stopped in his tracks and looked up at her, "While I'm not really trained in Magecraft, because Imaginary Numbers are related to The Sixth Imaginary Element, also called "Demons", I can sense residual human wishes and emotions. It's not really a useful ability on any level."

"I see…" Lancer said pensively, "However, I wouldn't call it "useless", per se."

Sakura looked up at the knight, not really sure why he thought that. A somewhat wistful smile played on the Knight's lips as he explained, "Personally, I think it's an extraordinary gift to be able to discern all the emotions that goes into an object or place… Being unable to understand the hearts of people is something that led to the fall of many a monarchs."

Sakura gave a curt nod affirming her understanding. She had been attentive in her Social Studies classes enough to understand that, despite the near-absolute power that Monarchs wielded upon the land he ruled and its inhabitants, he was more or less powerless if no one supported him. Uprisings and rebellions drawing on the fomenting rage of the masses, while not always enough to usurp, was usually an exceptionally weakening for the regime. Outside political forces or quislings from within the nobility took advantage of those times to strike down the royalty.

"Well…" However, she couldn't help but point out a glaring weakness in that reasoning, "I'm not really royalty, so it's still a relatively useless ability for me."

Lancer grinned rather sheepishly, "Indeed. I was just pointing out that your ability is far from useless despite its limited immediate use to you."

Well, perhaps the blonde was just being nice, but Sakura sensed something else behind his words. He was a Knight, from what she gathered from his brief conversation with Emiya-senpai after his summoning. Perhaps he had some experience with that type of situation he described. Where the king he served was overthrown by the people because he could not understand what they truly wanted.

"Oh, you guys are done setting up!" Emiya-senpai's voice brought her out of her reverie. Both she and Rin behind her had entered into the room, the latter now wearing a black, long-sleeved t-shirt with white accents on the cuffs and collar. It was a bit big for him, but not noticeably so.

"Welcome back." The Knight said gently.

"Sorry for the wait." Rin said, his eyes towards Sakura, "Busybody-san over there insisted on leaving my clothes in the washing machine." His tone was light, almost playful. He was obviously annoyed somewhat because they were delaying the meeting with the Overseer, but Sakura guessed that he disliked that person enough that he couldn't begrudge anyone giving him an excuse to delay a meeting with him.

Emiya-senpai, on the other hand, simply rolled her eyes at him as she brought over the rice cooker and placed it near the edge of the table, "I was trying to be considerate, Tohsaka-san."

"Yes, yes, thank you very much. You're a lovely hostess." Rin said, half-jokingly and half genuinely sincere, "But we've already lost a lot of time… Honestly, if I didn't suspect Berserker and Archer to be still skulking around nearby, I would've been really annoyed by the delay."

"So you suspect that they might have traps set up nearby already?" Lancer asked seriously, his eyes swiftly going from the steaming curry to Rin in an instant.

"Of course." Rin said, making himself comfortable in front of one of the white ceramic plates set on the table, "I guess I should tell you that the Einzbern Master, who is the Master of Archer in this war, seems to have a personal grudge against your Master. We encountered her earlier tonight and she gave us something of a "warning"."

Lancer's face darkened instantly, his hand that was resting on the table balled itself into a fist. But it didn't last and he took a deep and slow breath as though to steady himself.

"…You look really worried, Lancer." Emiya-senpai voiced what all of them present were probably thinking. Rin was looking at him, a single eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Naturally." Lancer said, his demeanor stoic and composed, "My Master has caught the eyes of many since before my summoning, and being concerned is the right reaction, if a superfluous one."

Sakura nodded, but couldn't help but hear insincerity in his voice.

"Worrying is superfluous?" Emiya-senpai asked as she scooped the steaming rice from inside the rice-cooker on the table with a paddle and served all of them one by one.

Lancer nodded curtly, "Indeed. If one knows the gravity of a situation, worrying oneself is simply putting strain on the heart and brain. That energy would be better spent trying to remedy the situation."

Rin snickered a bit at the statement. Lancer's blue eyes were filled with a hint of displeasure as he asked, "What do you find so funny about that?"

"Honestly, I agree with you. As far as it goes, what you said was factually correct." Rin stated simply, "But that's in the realm of "Correct but not necessarily Right"."

"…The way you phrased that made it sound stupid and self-contradictory, Tohsaka." Emiya-senpai said before he could continue, earning a giggle from Sakura and an amused impression from Lancer.

Rin, on the other hand, was irked, "Let me finish! It's actually smarter than it sounds." He cleared his throat almost like a teacher attempting to get his student's full attention in a subtle way, "As I was saying, you're technically right that worrying doesn't solve anything. But we're not just robots that can turn off a certain function at will whenever we please. Concern is a natural byproduct of emotional investment."

"…So you mean that if you're emotionally invested in something, you're worried regardless of how you express it?" Lancer asked quietly.

Rin nodded in reply, "That's the gist of it. Honestly, most people would find someone who's totally unconcerned by an alarming situation either extremely arrogant or unnervingly detached. Being concerned is fine, but letting it hinder your judgement or weigh you down mentally is when it's really harmful."

"Um… I guess I'm sorry I spoke before you finished. Hahaha…" Emiya-senpai told Rin.

"You should be." Rin huffed, turning his head away from Emiya-senpai crossly.

"Ehehe… W-well, let's dig in! The curry's getting cold." Emiya-senpai said in a hurry, attempting to salvage the situation. "Oh, wait! What about Saber?" She added with an afterthought as everyone picked up their spoons.

"I asked her to scout ahead to make sure that we aren't caught off guard by enemies." Rin said, "Don't worry, Servants don't really need to eat."

"Oh… I see. But I guess I'll still save some for her." Emiya-senpai said softly. Sakura couldn't really discern the emotion in her voice, but she understood that she didn't really have totally positive feelings towards that particular Servant for some reason.

"Itadakimassu!" Sakura said with the others as she dug her spoon into the rice covered in the silky, spicy-smelling curry. She decided to pick up a piece of carrot with the curry and rice first, and put it into her mouth.

A burst of savory-sweet hit her tongue, and she couldn't help but letting out a small "Mmmm!". The curry had such a nice velvety texture that seemed to coat the whole tongue and every grain of rice without being oily, and the savoury-sweet flavor that hit first and foremost was accompanied by a nutty and earthy flavor, undoubtedly from the dark roux and cumin in the curry powder mix.

There was something else giving it a depth of dark flavor, which Sakura assumed was the cocoa and instant coffee mix Emiya-senpai had added despite her hesitations (which she was glad about, as the complexity it gave the whole thing was excellent). The chunk of carrot was perfectly tender and had absorbed the flavor of the dashi well, and had also gained some of the spicy, peppery flavors of the spice mix.

Each time she chewed, bits of almost disintegrated and jam-like spiced caramelized onions would give a wonderful texture and sweet-savory-spiciness to the whole mix.

She swallowed the wonderful mouthful, and the aromatic spices lingered along with a kick of piquant flavor on her palate. She quickly picked up a chunk of beef with the next spoonful and took a bite. As expected, the meat was juicy and tender, filled to the brim with the spicy-sweet-umami of the dashi and spiced caramelized onions along with its own savory and smokey flavor from the lovely crust from being seared beforehand.

"Oh wow!" Rin said appreciatively, "This curry is one of the best I've had in some time. Great cooking on your part, Emiya."

"Yes, it's really delicious, Senpai." Sakura said wholeheartedly before digging back in. She could barely stop herself from wolfing down the whole plate before her in one go.

"Eh, it did turn out good… but that's thanks to Sakura really. You should be praising her too." Emiya-senpai said sheepishly, but still looked appreciative of the praise.

"This food…" A third voice said, and Sakura was somewhat flabbergasted by the borderline reverent tone, "Ah, I see… so cuisine has come so far in all these years from those simple boiled potatoes…"

"Are you… are you crying, Lancer?!" Emiya said, her tone bordering on unnerved.

"N-no!" The Servant protested, wiping the moistness from his eyes "I'm simply overwhelmed by the spice!"

Rin had a somewhat perplexed expression in his eyes, but it quickly turned into a look of mischief, "Oh boy, if you're overwhelmed by this little spice, I can't imagine what your reaction would be to my Chinese cooking."

Lancer, who had resumed eating the curry rice fervently, perked up his ears. Rin's grin became borderline wicked as he continued, "I was thinking of repaying Emiya for dinner by making lunch tomorrow. But I guess I'll just stick to the idea of making western, if one of the people eating wouldn't be able to take it. Mashed potatoes, perhaps. Too bad they're somewhat bland, in my opinion…"

"I-I don't really mind that much." Lancer stammered, all the color in his face draining at the mention of potatoes followed by "bland", "I mean, it would be cruel for you to make such a large change in plans simply on my account."

"Oh no, no, no!" Rin said with that wide smile while the two girls looked on with pity towards the blonde who had taken the bait, "It's no problem for me, Lancer. Honestly, it'll be less of a bother cooking it because it's fairly simple compared to Chinese... Though I do admit that I'm disappointed not being able to cook some Suanla Choushou..." Rin added the last part in a very convincing act of disappointment.

The blonde almost fearfully asked, "If I may ask... What's that, exactly?"

...The prey had taken the last bait, and Sakura sighed in unison with Emiya-senpai. What came next was an extremely candid and vivid description of the dish and its flavors (Sakura herself was salivating a bit; Rin should consider working as a food writer) along with the details of how he tried to improve that dish further and the resulting "masterpiece". It took Sakura all of her will power to stop herself from giggling at the expression on Lancer's face.

Lancer, now mortified, went back to eating the curry… perhaps a bit more enthusiastically, if that was even possible. It was obvious he was savoring the delicious food as much as he could before (what he probably assumed) a return to bland, tasteless potatoes.

Sakura could just exchange a half-amused and half-pitying smile with Emiya-senpai.

"Well… I guess it's good to see those two getting along?" Emiya-senpai said to her, her phrasing making it sound more of a question than a statement.

Sakura couldn't help but agree.


End file.
